use LOI but at temperatures lower than 950° Celsius range. Safety In many research labs, the use of asbestos gloves is required when operating the furnace as it can reach very hot temperatures. The use of face masks is also recommended at higher temperatures to ensure safety of researchers and junior lab members. It is also recommended that researchers performing LOI procedure remove all jewelry and watches as they are great conductors of heat. When removing samples at high temperatures, these accessories can easily heat up and result in burns. Other Uses The cement industry uses the LOI method by heating up a cement sample to 900-1000° Celsius, and it is heated until the mass of the sample stabilizes. Once the mass has stabilized the mass lost due to LOI is determined. This is usually done to determine the high water content in the cement or carbonation as these reduce the quality of cement. High losses are usually due to poor storage conditions of cement or manipulation of cement quality by suppliers. This ensures that the cement used in a site is of the correct composition to meet safety protocols and requirements of customers. In the mining industry, the use of LOI is vital in determining moisture and volatile material present in the rock. Hence when performing whole-rock analysis to determine total volatiles the LOI method is used. In order to remove all volatiles and to oxidize all iron into iron oxides, the temperature of the LOI is set to 900-1000° Celsius. References Analytical chemistry Cement Concrete Tests in geotechnical laboratories