thumb|right|200px|Die weiße Uniform argentinischer Schulkinder ist ein nationales Symbol für das Lernen.
Bei einem sogenannten '''Laborkittel''' handelt es sich um eine Schutzbekleidung für die Arbeit innerhalb eines Labors oder einer Einrichtung, in welcher mit Chemikalien gearbeitet wird.

Er dient dem Schutz der Bekleidung und/oder der Hautpartien vor diversen Chemikalien, insbesondere vor Säuren, Laugen und Giften. Der Laborkittel besteht zumeist aus nicht schmelzbaren Substanzen. Üblicherweise werden weiße Kittel aus Schürzen oder Overalls.

Das Tragen außerhalb des Labors, insbesondere in öffentlichen Räumen wie z.B. Toiletten oder Hörsälen ist verboten.
Bei gewissen Arbeiten, wie z.B. dem Hantieren mit größeren Mengen brennbarer Flüssigkeiten muss ein Kittel aus flammhemmend imprägnierter Baumwolle oder aus anderen nicht entflammbaren Materialien bestehen. Ebenso ist beim Umgang mit größeren Mengen ätzender Flüssigkeiten eine undurchlässige Schutzkleidung (aus PVC oder anderen Kunststoffen) zu tragen.

thumb|200px|right|A lab coat worn by a [[Canadian gastroenterologist.]]
A '''white coat''' or '''laboratory coat''' (abbreviated '''lab coat''') is a knee-length overcoat/medical field or by those involved in laboratory work to protect their street clothes. The garment is made from white or light-colored cotton, linen, or cotton polyester blend, allowing it to be washed at high temperature and make it easy to see if it is clean. Similar coats are a symbol of learning in Argentina, where they are worn by students.

When used in the laboratory, they protect against accidental spills, e.g. acids. In this case they have to have long sleeves and be made of an absorbent material, such as cotton, so that the user can be protected from the chemical. Some lab coats have buttons at the end of the sleeves, to secure them around the wrist so that they do not hang into beakers of chemicals.

Like the word "chemical company.

==White coats in medicine==
White coats are sometimes seen as the distinctive dress of white coat ceremonies have become popular amongst those starting medical school.

The white coat was introduced to medicine in Canada by Dr. George Armstrong (1855–1933) who was a surgeon at the Montreal General Hospital and President of the Canadian Medical Association.

A recent study found that the majority of patients prefer their doctors to wear white coats, but the majority of doctors prefer other clothing, such as scrubs.<ref name="bbc"></ref> The study found that psychiatrists were among the least likely to wear white coats, perhaps in part due to the stereotyping that the pop culture phrase suggests. Some medical doctors view the coats as hot and uncomfortable, and many feel that they spread infection.<ref name="bbc"/>

Some doctors in institutions such as the Mayo Clinic are instructed to wear business attire, to convey professionalism, as the clinic dislikes the message that white coats represent to the patient.<ref>[http://hbswk.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=3380&t=marketing Mayo Clinic article]</ref>

===White coat hypertension===
Some patients who have their blood pressure measured in a clinical setting have higher readings than they do when measured in a home setting. This is sometimes called "white coat hypertension", in reference to the traditional white coats worn in a clinical setting, though the coats themselves may have nothing to do with the elevated readings.<ref></ref>

===In psychiatry===
The term is also used as verbal shorthand for psychiatric orderlies or other personnel and may be used, in a usually jocular manner, to imply someone's lunacy. In the 1966 song, ''They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!'', Napoleon XIV fictionalized the public's view of the symbolic relationship between such institutions and white coats in the following lyrics:

<blockquote>
They're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha haaa!<br/>
To the funny farm,<br/>
Where life is beautiful all the time.<br/>
And I'll be happy to see those nice young men<br/>
In their clean white coats,<br/>
And they're coming to take me away ha haaa!
</blockquote>

===White versus black===
Until the mid 1920's, students who were examining cadavers would wear black lab coats to show respect for the dead.  Black lab coats were used in early biomedical and microbiology laboratories because any dust (i.e. contamination) that settled on them was easily visible.