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Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Journal for Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement (v.4, #12)
The ETACS European project for testing the comparability of sensors and analysers by A. Ríos; A. Lynggaard-Jensen; H. S. Jacobsen; R. Whiteman; H. Wacheux; B. Karlberg; A. B. Lindholm; T. Stenstrøm; H. Berridge; A. Boenke (pp. B512-B517).
ETACS is the official acronym for the European project "European Testing and Assessment of Comparability of On-line Sensors/Analysers". This project has three main objectives to achieve the comparability of performance data for sensors and analysers in the environmental field. First, to develop a test protocol for validation and comparison of the performance of on-line sensors/analysers. The test protocol is intended to be generic, that is independent of the specific sensors/analysers and the specific parameters to be monitored. Second, the practical testing of this test protocol to assess its applicability and to develop the techniques used. Finally, to achieve widespread acceptance of the test protocol by producer/suppliers, users and relevant authorities to assist its early adoption as an agreed European standard. Laboratory tests for producing the test protocol have been carried out and completed to check the applicability of such a protocol.
Keywords: Key words Quality assurance; Laboratory tests; Protocol; Sensors/analysers; Waste water analysis
Harmonized guidelines for the use of recovery information in analytical measurement
by A. Fajgelj (pp. A512-A512).
Homogeneity studies of reference materials by solid sampling – AAS and INAA by M. Rossbach; K. -H. Grobecker (pp. 498-503).
The necessity to quantify a natural material's homogeneity with respect to its elemental distribution prior to chemical analysis of a given aliquot is emphasised. The instruments and methods which are currently available are described. Additionally, the calculation of element specific, relative homogeneity factors, H E and the minimum sample mass, M 5%, to achieve 5% precision on a 95% confidence level is given. Especially, in the production and certification of certified reference materials (CRMs) this characteristic information should be determined in order to provide the user with additional inherent properties of the CRM, to enable more economic use of the expensive material and to evaluate further systematic bias of the applied analytical technique.
Keywords: Key words Homogeneity; Solid-sampling-atomic absorption spectrometry; Instrumental neutron activation analysis; Certified reference materials
Uncertainty of nitrogen determination by the Kjeldahl method by T. Anglov; I. M. Petersen; J. Kristiansen (pp. 504-510).
The uncertainty of the Kjeldahl method for determination of nitrogen in insulin was evaluated according the procedure described in the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. The relative standard uncertainty of the method was found to be 0.19%, compared to the relative intermediate precision experimentally found to be 0.085%. The uncertainty components were organized in Tables, which allowed an easy overview and evaluation. The largest contribution to the uncertainty came from volumetric equipment. Systematic uncertainty budgets such as the design presented here facilitate the uncertainty evaluation process and makes it easier to compare uncertainty evaluations performed by different analysts.
Keywords: Key words Uncertainty budget; Uncertainty evaluation; Uncertainty component; Traceability; Reference standards
The concept of population and maximum difference between two results of analysis by I. Kuselman (pp. 511-511).
The concept of population, which is widely used in mathematical statistics, is discussed in relation to the calculation of maximum difference between two results of analysis (permissible range) which is an important parameter of quality for analytical methods. It is shown how the sample size can influence the results of the calculation.
Keywords: Key words Population; Range; Distribution; Analytical results; Quality
Workshop on "Quality Management in Analytical Chemical Research and Development" by W. Kleiböhmer (pp. 517-520).
Maintaining a high quality of research and development (R&D) is fundamental for the competitiveness of European industry. The development of new technologies and the improvement of existing technologies, products, production processes, measurement instrumentation and methods as well as basic research is essential. The objective of the workshop on "Quality Management in Analytical Chemical Research and Development" was to bring together experts from the academic world, industrial and institutional laboratories and also accreditation bodies to discuss the actual state of the art in the field of quality management in R&D, and to set up milestones for further activities. Furthermore, an important objective was to present the EURACHEM/CITAC Guide 2. The paper outlines the programme of the workshop and summarises the round-table discussions and expert recommendations. Most of the contributions to the round-table discussions will be published as full papers in a forthcoming issue of Accreditation and Quality Assurance. The workshop was organised by the Institut für Chemo- und Biosensorik (ICB), Münster, with the financial support of the SMT-Programme of the European Commission (Contract No.: SMT4-CT98-6534).
Keywords: Key words Quality management; Research and development
Information on the activity of the IUPAC Interdivisional Working Party on harmonization of quality assurance schemes for analytical laboratories 1997–1999
by A. Fajgelj (pp. 520-521).
Alphabetical index of defined terms and where they can be found Part I: A–F by D. G. Holcombe (pp. 525-530).
This paper, the first of a series of three, presents the first part of an alphabetical index of approximately 1400 terms taken from various international official standards, protocols and guides. The terms listed include those encountered in the analytical sector, related to sampling, quality, conformity assessment, standardisation, measurement and related statistics. The definitions themselves are not included. The purpose of the index is to provide the user with a ready means of establishing whether a particular term has an official definition and if so where it is located. In doing so it makes location of officially defined terms more straightforward and so encourages their use. It also highlights those terms which are defined in several places, indicating the degree of equivalence between the definitions from the different sources. This first part of the index covers A–F and additionally lists terms regularly encountered but thought to have no officially recognised definition.
Keywords: Key words Index; Official definitions; Terms; Terminology
Observing validation, uncertainty determination and traceability in developing Nordtest test methods
by M. Holmgren (pp. 533-533).