Analytical chemical results touch everyones lives can we eat the food? do I have a disease? did the defendant leave his DNA at the crime scene? should I invest in that gold mine? When a chemist measures something how do we know that the result is appropriate? What is fit for purpose in the context of analytical chemistry? Many manufacturing and service companies have embraced traditional statistical approaches to quality assurance, and these have been adopted by analytical chemistry laboratories. However the right chemical answer is never known, so there is not a direct parallel with the manufacture of ball bearings which can be measured and assessed. The customer of the analytical services relies on the quality assurance and quality control procedures adopted by the laboratory. It is the totality of the QA effort, perhaps first brought together in this text, that gives the customer confidence in the result. QA in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory takes the reader through all aspects of QA, from the statistical basics and quality control tools to becoming accredited to international standards. The latest understanding of concepts such as measurement uncertainty and metrological traceability are explained for a working chemist or her client. How to design experiments to optimize an analytical process is included, together with the necessary statistics to analyze the results. All numerical manipulation and examples are given as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that can be implemented on any personal computer. Quality Assurance in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Different kinds of interlaboratory studies are explained, and how a laboratory is judged in proficiency testing schemes is described. Accreditation to ISO 17025 or OECD GLP is nearly obligatory for laboratories of any pretension to quality. Here the reader will find an introduction to the requirements and philosophy of accreditation. Whether completing a degree course in chemistry or working in a busy analytical laboratory, this book is a single source for an introduction into quality assurance.

ISO Guide 35:2006, Reference materials - General and statistical principles for certification ISO Guide 35:2006 gives statistical principles to assist in the understanding and development of valid methods to assign values to properties of a reference material, including the evaluation of their associated uncertainty, and establish their metrological traceability. Reference materials (RMs) that undergo all steps described in ISO Guide 35:2006 are usually accompanied by a certificate and called a certified reference material (CRM). This Guide will be useful in establishing the full potential of CRMs as aids to ensure the comparability, accuracy and compatibility of measurement results on a national or international scale. In order to be comparable across borders and over time, measurements need be traceable to appropriate and stated references. CRMs play a key role in implementing the concept of traceability of measurement results in chemistry, biology and physics among other sciences dealing with materials and/or samples. Laboratories use these CRMs as readily accessible measurement standards to establish traceability of their measurement results to international standards. The property values carried by a CRM can be made traceable to SI units or other internationally agreed units during production. ISO Guide 35:2006 explains how methods can be developed that will lead to well established property values, which are made traceable to appropriate stated references. It covers a very wide range of materials (matrices), ranging from gas mixtures to biological materials, and a very wide range of properties, ranging from chemical composition to physical and immunoassay properties.