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Analytical Chemistry Division (V)
INFORMATION ON THE ACTIVITY
1997-1999
On the occasion of the 40th IUPAC General Assembly, Freie Universit�t
Berlin, Germany, 7 to 14 August 1999, the IUPAC Interdivisional Working
Party on Harmonisation of Quality Assurance Schemes for Analytical
Laboratories (WP) [1] has reviewed its activities
for the two year period and prepared its working plan for the next
biennium.
Status of projects
Protocol for the use of recovery factors >Project
501/7/95
The project was successfully accomplished with the publication of
the technical report "Harmonised
Guidelines for the Use of Recovery Information in Analytical Measurement"
[2]. The resulting technical document gives guidelines
that are intended to be general in their scope and gives recommendations
that reflect the common practice best able to achieve the comparability
of analytical results. A strong international impact of these guidelines
in the field of chemical measurements is expected. However, specific
sectors of analytical chemistry will need to develop these guidelines
for their own requirements, and the recommendations are not, therefore,
to be seen as binding for all areas of analytical chemistry. It has
to be pointed out that in the case of this project the WP's international
co-operation was expanded and besides IUPAC, ISO and AOAC Int. also
EURACHEM was formally involved for the first time. Document can be
accessed via Internet <http://www.vtt.fi/ket/eurachem/publications.htm>.
Compilation and clarification of quality assurance related nomenclature
>Project
501/9/97
The result of the project is a compilation of approximately 1400 terms
from 18 literature sources - mainly standards, in alphabetical order
with identification of the source where the term can be found as well
as an indication whether the definition of the same term in different
sources is the same or not. This compilation, entitled "Alphabetical
index of defined terms and where they can be found", will be published
in three parts in the journal Accreditation and Quality Assurance.
The users will be provided with a ready means of establishing whether
a particular term has an official definition and if so where it is
located. Compilation might be used as a source of information also
at the discussion on the revision of the International Vocabulary
on Basic and General Terms in Metrology (VIM). This work was completely
carried out by D. Holcombe, LGC UK. The WP would like to acknowledge
his efforts.
Protocol for in-house method validation >Project
501/8/97
The draft protocol was prepared by R. Wood and M. Thompson and presented
at the WP meeting. After being completed, the document will be circulated
to WP members, other IUPAC Divisions and co-operating organisations
for comments. As part of the project, an international workshop on
"Principles
and Practices of Method Validation" will be organised together
with the IUPAC Commission on Agrochemicals and the Environment (VI.4)
and in co-operation with the FAO/IAEA Joint Division and AOAC Int.
The workshop will take place between 4 and 6 November 1999, Budapest,
Hungary. After international discussion and approval, the document
will be submitted for publication in the journal Pure and Applied
Chemistry. The project is expected to be accomplished in the year
2000. In addition to the planned activities also an international
workshop on "Proper
Use of Matrix Reference Materials" was organised on co-operation
with ISO/REMCO, BAM Berlin and EUROLAB Germany in Berlin, Germany,
between 21 and 23 April 1999. For more information see the August
1999 issue of this journal [3].
New projects
Up-dating of the IUPAC "Harmonised Protocol for the Proficiency Testing
of (Chemical) Analytical Laboratories: The current version of the
IUPAC protocol was published in 1993 [4]. This
protocol has been adopted by a number of international organisations
and it is used as the basis for the majority of proficiency testing
schemes carried out in the analytical community. It is incorporated
into legislation in the food sector, most notably by endorsement by
the Codex Alimentarius Commission. It is now appropriate for the protocol
to be revised in the light of experience of its usage. In particular,
the following points will be addressed in a revision of the protocol:
The work will be progressed through an international workshop at
which there will be invited presentations followed by discussion on
the revision of the protocol.
New structure of the information system on Certified Reference Materials:
Nowadays, the index Code of Reference Materials (COMAR) provides information
on some ten thousand CRMs coming from more than 200 producers from
more than 20 countries. Searching possibilities have to be upgraded
and made easy for use. A new information system will mainly be based
on the use of keywords. Every CRM shall be characterised by a harmonised
keyword list, which should be used for the coding as well as for the
interrogation. This will allow everybody in the analytical laboratory
to have easy access via Internet or CD-ROM. The work related to the
new structure of the data base is related to chemical nomenclature
and IUPAC is the most appropriate organisation and the WP the appropriate
body to carry out this activity. Co-operation with other IUPAC Divisions,
ISO/REMCO, AOAC. Int., CITAC and EURACHEM is foreseen.
Traceability concept in chemical measurement: A traceability concept
for chemical measurements has to be developed and presented to the
chemical community in an understandable and applicable way. The existing
confusion and misinterpretation related to the term traceability has
to be solved with the help of practical examples. The role and responsibility
of metrological institutions, field analytical chemists and reference
materials producers in establishing a complete traceability chain
has to be clearly defined. The WP was identified as the appropriate
body within IUPAC to carry out this work. However, there is still
a large theoretical component of the project. Co-operation with other
international organisations, i.e. CCQM, OIML, etc. is foreseen.
Future structure and the role of the harmonisation
working party
It is expected that the WP will remain in the IUPAC structure even
after the IUPAC restructuring, which should be accomplished in the
year 2001. However, this can only be justified if the WP is able to
demonstrate its usefulness for the international chemical community
and IUPAC itself. Our goal is to become a central body of the IUPAC
for quality assurance related matters. To this aim, in the next two
years the terms of reference will be adjusted to the new IUPAC "project
oriented organisation", and will have to reflect also the role that
the WP should have as an neutral body in the international harmonisation
in the field of quality assurance in chemistry. Positive feedback
from other organisations, i.e. AOAC Int., EURACHEM, CITAC, ISO/REMCO,
etc., is an encouraging factor with respect to this goal.
Regarding the membership of the WP, the idea is to reduce the number
of members to those who are linked to one or more IUPAC projects,
and to have fix contact points within IUPAC divisions and/or commissions
and liaison with other international organisations or bodies from
the field. A traditional co-operation with ISO and AOAC Int. should
further be expanded, as was already the case with EURACHEM. WP will
stay opened also to all interested individuals, who might be included
in our mailing list and being informed on all WP activities.
Additional information on current WP activities, reports and members
can be obtained from the IUPAC home page under: http://www.iupac.org.
References
-
Fajgelj A, Parkany M (1998) Accred Qual Assur
3 : 163-165
-
-
Fajgelj A (1999) Accred Qual Assur 4 : 370-371
-
Thompson M, Wood R (1993) Pure Appl Chem
95 : 2123-2144
Ale�
Fajgelj
International Atomic Energy Agency
Agency's Laboratories
A-2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
Page last modified 27 March 2002.
Copyright ©1997-2002 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
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