Techniques for system suitability testing of inert liquid chromatography systems and columns

A method of characterizing a liquid chromatography system containing a chromatographic column, the method comprising:

• introducing a sample comprising a known amount of a positive control and a known amount of a negative control to a fluidic system including a flow path disposed in an interior of the fluidic system of the liquid chromatography system, the flow path comprising a surface;
• wherein the positive control is a sensitive probe that interacts with the surface of the fluidic flow path, and wherein the negative control is substantially non-interacting with the surface of the fluidic flow path;
• after passing the sample through the chromatographic column, detecting the amount of the positive control and the amount of the negative control that passes through the liquid chromatography system;
• and
• determining the liquid chromatography system suitability by comparing the amount of detected positive control to the amount of detected negative control.