Eurachem Newsletter
17
Winter 1999/2000
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Contents of this issue | |
Headlines | EU & USA Implementing
Metrology Arrangement EURACHEM: Focus on Traceability |
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EURACHEM Reports |
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Workshop | The Status of Traceability in Chemical Measurement |
National Reports |
Reports from National
Organisations:
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Events | |
Contacts | EURACHEM Committee and Contact Points - Winter 1999/2000 |
Published by: The EURACHEM Secretariat, BAM, D-12200 BERLIN , GERMANY Tel + 49 30 6392 5596 Fax + 49 30 6392 5597 Email: eurachem@bam.de Internet http://www.vtt.fi/ket/eurachem/ Editor: Wolfram Bremser , BAM, Germany. Additional copies available from EURACHEM Secretariat |
Eurachem News Winter 1999/2000 |
EURACHEM: Focus on Traceability |
Bringing traceability of the "amount of substance" into practice is one of the key problems in chemical measurement. Up to the date, EURACHEM dedicated three workshops to the topic. The first was held in 1992 (Geel, Belgium), the second in 1996 (Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands). In continuation of this tradition, more than 80 analysts from 28 countries gathered in Bratislava (Slovak Republic) on 5 - 8 September 1999 for the 3rd EURACHEM Workshop on the Status of Traceability in Chemical Measurement. The scientific programme included lectures and working-group discussions on five key issues in chemical traceability. See for a detailed report later on the topics and results of the workshop. |
EU & USA Implementing Metrology Arrangement |
It was a great privilege for me as the Chairperson of EURACHEM to represent the members at the official signing ceremony of the "EU - USA Implementing Arrangement for co-operation in the field of metrology and measurement standards" in Brussels on Tuesday, 5 October 1999. The core purpose of the Arrangement is to permit the acceptance of the concept "once tested - everywhere accepted". About 20 invited guests attended this brief ceremony and EURACHEM was invited by the Commission as the representative of chemical measurement in Europe. EUROMET and EUROLAB were also represented by their chairs at the signing of the Arrangement. The agreement was signed by Prof. Jorma Routti, Director General of the European Commission's Research DG, and Dr. Ray Kammer, Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The aim of this co-operation is "to demonstrate the degree to which equivalent measurement capability exists between the NIST national laboratories and the European national laboratory network and to augment the scientific and technical capabilities of the participating institutions". The Arrangement will be implemented by a series of measures and it is intended to apply to "exchange of technical information, reference data and materials, calibration and measurement standards, exchange visits, co-operative research in areas of mutual interest, and other forms of co-operation activities as mutually agreed". The official press release of the EU and NIST is available at URLs: http:// europa.eu.int/comm/dg12/press/1999/pr0510en.html and http://www.nist.gov/ public_affairs/releases/n99-17.htm. Veikko Komppa EURACHEM Chairman |
The EURACHEM Proficiency Testing Mirror Group |
The Eurachem Proficiency Testing Mirror Group (PTMG) was formed in the Autumn of 1997, under the direction of its first convenor, Professor Paul De Bievre of the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Geel. The first meeting of the group was held at IRMM in November 1997. The terms of reference for the group were as follows: 1. To improve the organisation of proficiency testing in Europe 2. To promote best practice in proficiency testing 3. To provide a forum for organisers and users of proficiency testing schemes on issues affecting the practice of proficiency testing 4. To provide input and comment from the chemical measurement commu-nity to the EA-EUROLAB-EURACHEM Working Group on Proficiency Testing in Accreditation Procedures (EEE-PTWG) 5. To forward EEE-PTWG conclusions to EURACHEM 6. To provide input to any international activity related to PT. In November 1998, Paul De Bievre stood down as convenor of the Group, and it was agreed that Nick Boley of LGC, Teddington, should take over as convenor. The membership of the Group is now: Mr Nick Boley, LGC, UK (Convenor) Mr Rainer Schmidt, Bayer AG, Germany Dr Philip Taylor, IRMM Dr Ellen van Berkel, KIWA NV, Netherlands Mr Steve Evans, LGC, UK Dr Adam Uldall, DEKS, Herlev University Hospital, Denmark Dr Ulf Örnemark, SP, Sweden. Nick Boley, Philip Taylor, Adam Uldall and Ellen van Berkel represent EURACHEM on the EEE-PTWG. It is an important function of the group to ensure that there is proper discussion of both the minutes and papers coming out of the EEE-PTWG, and topics which are on the agenda for the next meeting. This also ensures that EURACHEM members present a common front at EEE-PTWG meetings, and do not argue amongst themselves! The EEE-PTWG discusses issues which go much wider than analytical chemistry, and it is the responsibility of the EURACHEM representatives to ensure that any decisions and outputs of the WG take into account the needs of analytical chemistry. A guide to the Selection, Use and Interpretation of PT-Schemes has been produced by the Eurachem Netherlands PT Group, edited by Nick Boley, and approved by the Mirror Group. This document is in the process of approval by the EEE-PTWG and should be available on-line and in hard copy format from EURACHEM at the end of 1999. One of the current important challenges facing the Group has been the organisation and planning of the Workshop on Proficiency Testing (jointly organised with EQALM) to be held in Boras, Sweden on 25 and 26 September 2000 (see page 9). We hope to see many EURACHEM members at the workshop. There is currently some scope to extend the membership of the Group. We are concerned that there is a need for input from countries in southern and eastern Europe. If any EURACHEM member in the appropriate countries, who is active in organising PT schemes, is interested in joining the Group, they should contact: Nick Boley, EURACHEM U.K. Tel: +44 20 8943 7311 Fax: +44 210 8943 0654 npb@lgc.co.uk |
Editorial |
How did you pass the New Year´s season? No matter whether this has been with mystic dwarves at the Polar Circle or fortune tellers in ancient Angkor Wat, at Merlin´s miraculous fountain in Paimpont Forest, on board of a super-sonic airliner crossing the Atlantic Ocean, in the centre of the splendid London or Paris fireworks or simply in front of your cosy fireplace - we at EURACHEM Newsletter hope that you all had a very pleasant millennium´s border-crossing and a bug-free, successful and lucky start into the New Year. Also in this 3rd millennium, EURACHEM Newsletter will keep you informed on the events in Europe´s analytical community. While the millennium fever cools down, we see EURACHEM´s 2005 Mission and Key Objectives and the new MoU on a good way to be accomplished before the Full Committee Meeting in Berlin shall endorse these documents. EA has elected a new chair: Daniel Pierre who is with COFRAC (France) took over the chairmanship from Lars Ettarp on 1 January, 2000. The vice-chair Thomas Facklam comes from Germany and is with Frankfurt-based TGA GmbH. Meeting the challenges of the new ISO 17025 will be one of the main tasks of the new team. Good luck! In Fall 99, we saw another real "millennium" event: Although already existing for more than 100 years, the member states of the Meter Convention only now signed in an agreement on mutual recognition of national measurement standards and calibration and measurement certificates issued by National Metrology Institutes. Good news for the global market! The Editor |
EURACHEM and the Permanent Liaison Group (PLG) |
The first time EURACHEM officially participated in a PLG Meeting was on 11 May 1999 in Espoo, Finland (the 20th meeting since the group has been founded). EURACHEM was represented by the chairman because the nomination of EURACHEM representative to the PLG, Ed de Leer, was done only during the EURACHEM 10th Anniversary celebrations in Helsinki in mid June 1999. The next PLG meeting where EURACHEM was officially represented took place on 22-23 November 1999 in Athens, where in conjunction the 1999 EA-EUROLAB-EURACHEM Workshop was held. All members of the EURACHEM Executive Committee had been invited but due to other commitments only the chairman Veikko Komppa, Adolf Zschunke and Werner Steck could participate. The Workshop was very well attended by EUROLAB and EA members. Spread all over the town, the beautiful testimonies of Athens´ great history dating back more than two millenniums into the past provided fantastic possibilities for sightseeing tours and walks. The meeting programme contained a general session and one devoted to the PLG and its future. B. Thomas introduced the new ISO/IEC 17025 and he and D. Holcombe confirmed that some clinical laboratories are preparing their own ISO standard for accreditation. D. Pierre gave a paper on multisite, multidiscipline, multifunction assessment as an EA view. B. Steffen outlined validation in relation to the scope of accreditation and A. Zschunke summarised the work of the EEE-RM Group. J. Forsten reviewed the Work Programme of the PLG and N. Mueller gave a PLG view on uncertainty of measurement in testing. In the very last part of the Workshop the three participating organisations gave the stakeholders' views on the PLG. In my words I stressed the importance of chemical and clinical measurements to the whole society, the meaning of accreditation and laboratory intercomparisons to the quality and staff motivation, and welcomed the joint efforts of all the three E's in improving proficiency testing schemes, reference materials and quality in laboratories in general. Happy New Millennium to the whole EURACHEM community! Veikko Komppa EURACHEM Chairman |
Metrology Award for EURACHEM Protagonist |
Each year, the "Metrology for World Class Manufacturing Awards" recognise the value-added contribution metrology makes to world-class manufacturing in the UK and those individuals or organisations who have played their part in raising the profile of metrology. The awards are supported by Britain´s leading organisations concerned with innovation, metrology and manufacturing competitiveness. Award sponsors are the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Taylor Hobson and the EMTA (Engineering and Marine Training Authority). Prizes are awarded in 4 categories: Frontier Science and Measurement, Innovative Metrology, Mea-surement for Manufacturing Excellence, and Champions of Metrology. This year´s winner of the "Champions of Metrology" award for lifetime contribution is EURACHEM founding member and protagonist Alex Williams, well-known to the analytical community in particular for his leading role in the creation of, and the contributions to the EURACHEM Measurement Uncertainty Guide. In their decision, the Award judges emphasized that "... Alex Williams CB has spent almost the whole of his career in metrology. He has been involved in the promotion and definition of accuracy and uncertainty for more than 30 years. ... His distinguished career brought him international repute as a champion of metrology, both physical and chemical. He was the driving force behind both EUROMET and EURACHEM. ... He was the first non-North American to be elected to the Board of the Association of Analytical Chemists (AOAC) in the USA." Congratulations with this success, Dear Alex, and keep on making uncertainty a bit more certain! EURACHEM Secretariat |
EAAB: Stakeholders' Expectations from Accreditation |
Third Meeting of the EA Advisory Board (EAAB) The third meeting of EAAB was held in Brussels on 5 November 1999. It was the first purely operational session which addressed various issues such as EA complaints procedure, items from the EA General assembly agenda for 23-25 November 1999 in Athens, MLA's concerning mutual recognition and mutual acceptance, the relationship between accreditation and notification, consultation mechanisms within the "colleges" represen-ted on the board (colleges are industry, national authorities and the confor-mity assessment operators, the latter including organisations like EURO-LAB, EUROMET and EURACHEM). Maybe the until now most important output of EAAB is its recent position paper " Stakeholders' Expectations From Accreditation". The document was well received by the EA general Assembly in Athens and will be used by EA to guide future policies and priorities. W. Steck, EURACHEM Germany |
1. The common expectations All stakeholders
expect accreditation to deliver confidence in the
conformity assessment infrastructure, and consistency
between conformity assessment operators. |
Accredited RM Producers - A New Trend? |
* ILAC-Guidelines for the Requirements for the Competence of Reference Material Producers Endorsed * Positive Voting on Revised ISO Guide 34 |
The International Laboratory Accreditation
Cooperation (ILAC) on its meeting in Rio de Janeiro on 19
and 20 October endorsed the Guidelines for the
Requirements for the Competence of Reference Material
Producers. In the same decision ILAC noted that ISO REMCO
is revising its Guide 34 and therefore requests the
Technical Accreditation Issues (TAI)-Committee to review
the ILAC Guidelines at the time Guide 34 is finalised. In
the meantime the voting on the ISO Guide resulted
positive. It is expected to be available at the beginning
of the year 2000. The ILAC document describes Management Systems Requirements and Technical Requirements which the producers of reference materials (even when not certified to ISO Guide 31) shall fulfil to achieve and maintain competence. Its purpose is to be a basis for the evaluation of the competence of reference materials producers. After a long debate about the bodies which should do the evaluation, the following wording was finally found for par. (d) of the introduction of the ILAC document: "If the producer of the reference material is a laboratory, the assessment according to these Guidelines can be done by a laboratory accreditation body in connection with an accreditation according to ISO/IEC 17025. Otherwise, the assessment by a product certification body, accredited for this purpose, may be more appropriate." The advantage of this solution is that i) no new type of accreditation is created with all its mutual recognition problems, ii) laboratories can be accredited by their usual accreditation body at the same time for their testing, calibration and RM characterisation and (if relevant) production activities, iii) manufacturers, whose products are used as reference materials, will be assessed by product certification bodies according to ISO Guide 65, thus avoiding a competition between accreditation and certification bodies. The common EA, EUROLAB and EURACHEM working group on Reference Materials (EEE-RM) supported that philosophy with the understanding that the reference materials produced under surveillance of accreditation or certification bodies should meet the same quality level. The basis for the assessment should be ISO Guide 34 (2000). The ILAC-Guide may serve as an interim solution. The EEE-RM recommended to watch the development of third party assessment of RM-producers first and not to start with the development of additional technical guidance documents immediately. With regard to the question whether laboratories producing RMs should be accredited as calibration or testing laboratories, the EEE-RM recommended not to install new barriers to trade by requiring this distinction. Again the technical requirements of ISO Guide 34 (2000) or the ILAC Guide, respectively, should be fulfilled independently of the body in charge. Furthermore, it was agreed that the technical level of testing laboratories in that area should be comparable to that of calibration laboratories (e.g. uncertainty budgets, intercomparisons) where applicable. Adolf Zschunke+ and Bernd Steffen++ + EURACHEM Germany ++ German Accreditation Council |
Budapest Hosts Method Validation Workshop |
An international workshop organized by FAO-IAEA-AOAC-IUPAC
on Principles and Practices of Method Validation was held
on 4 - 6 November 1999 in Budapest (Hungary). The
conference site - the glorious building of the Hungarian
Academy of Science - was selected with choice. Árpád
Ambrus and Gabriella Sz. Kükedy co-ordinated the
programme. The workshop brought together analytical
chemists and representatives of agencies, governments,
standardisation organisations and accreditation bodies
involved in method validation. Experts mainly focused on
the residue analysis of pesticides, veterinary drugs and
mycotoxins to define minimum data requirements for
procedure characterisation. Lectures were devoted to
improve effectiveness of the within-laboratory QC, to
discuss the estimation of limits of detection,
determination and quantitation. They provided guidance on
method performance characterisation and recommended
practical validation approaches. The 3-day workshop was
very well attended by over 80 participants from several
countries including New Zealand, USA and Canada. Along
with the 31 oral and poster presentations panel
discussions were held on "Harmonised Guidelines for
Methods of Analysis". After the international
workshop, FAO-IUPAC experts met in Miskolc for the final
approval of the "Practical Approach to Method
Validation" document. Jozsef Hlavay, EURACHEM Hungary |
EURACHEM Workshop ReportThe Status of Traceability in Chemical Measurement |
|
Analytical Quality Assurance at Universities |
New EURACHEM Working Group During the Bratislava Executive Meeting in Fall 1999, EURACHEM decided to set up a new working group dedicated to "Analytical Quality Assurance at Universities". On this page, the designated WG chair Bernd Neidhart elaborates on the aims and tasks, and the background of the new WG. The working group is open to all those EURACHEM members interested in contributing to QA at universities. For more information, contact Prof Bernd Neidhart at GKSS Forschungszentrum, D-21502 Geesthacht, Germany; bernd.neidhart@gkss.de. |
The concepts of Analytical Quality Assurance (AQA) and Analytical Quality Management (AQM) developed in the wake of the harmonization of the European market and in connection with the globalization of the world's major trading zones, have now been formally established via the appropriate directives and standards (ISO 17025, EN 45000ff. etc.). Background Although these developments have become widely accepted as market-regulating elements by both the chemical industry and independent laboratories for routine chemical analysis and are now practised extensively in the form of accreditation, this has taken place without any perceptible participation on the part of the universities. This state of affairs is somewhat similar to the situation prevailing at the beginning of the 80's with regard to the introduction of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). The university sector which has always prided itself on its enduring commitment to high quality and its generally recognized competence appears to be having difficulties in accepting that henceforth it will have to demonstrate proof of quality and, moreover, invest in expensive measures to maintain it. In contrast to the situation with regard to GLP, this will be disadvantageous in the short-to-medium term to those institutions in the higher education sector that persist with their traditional structures and teaching curricula and thus fail to react to the developments in Analytical Chemistry which have given it the status of an independent scientific discipline with increasing global-economic and socio-political importance. In considering the role of AQA in the higher education sector it is necessary to differentiate between the various university activities which include services, research and development and teaching, as follows: * Routine chemical analyses (including ad hoc analyses) performed for external clients and for the university's own measurement campaigns * Routine chemical analyses carried out for internal clients as a service to research in other Chemistry Departments * Chemical analyses performed as part of R&D work including such in non-analytical Chemistry disciplines * Chemical analyses carried out within the framework of research projects having pre-eminent goals which are analytically based. These considerations also apply to the whole range of scientific disciplines in which chemical measurements are made, such as Biology, Geology, Medicine, Microbiology, Mineralogy, Ecology, Pharmacy, Toxicology etc. The quality of chemical measurements (or AQA) must become a sustaining element of modern research and teaching in the Chemistry departments of universities. Academic freedom in teaching and research also involves a responsibility to adapt oneself to changed conditions, prepare students for new tasks, face the competition from other universities, and give priority to fulfilling teaching duties, if necessary, at the expense of one's own scientific interests. Aims and tasks of the working group In order to assist universities in the implementation of actions and structures of AQA in the various areas mentioned above, a guide is needed, which could be worked out by a new, temporary working group. The new guide should be based on the EURACHEM/CITAC Guide "Quality Assurance for Research and Development and non-routine Analysis" but needs to reflect in particular the situation at universities. The preliminary working programme of the group includes the following major steps: * constitution of the working group; university professors in Analytical Chemistry, accepted as experts (at least in Europe), are highly welcome * setup of a network of experts at European universities and research centres * evaluation of the situation at European universities and research centres * development of a concept (criteria catalogue) and a strategy for the implementation of AQA in universities and research centres * elaboration of a guide "AQA at Universities and Research Centres" (draft title) All activities will be developed in close co-operation and in co-ordination with DAC/FECS, so that overlapping work is avoided and synergism is created. Bernd Neidhart, EURACHEM Germany |
Reports from National Organisations |