National Standards Laboratory, Australia

J. Puttock and E.G. Thwaite. Elastic compression of spheres and cylinders at point and line contact. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia National standards Laboratory technical paper. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 1969. 

In 1959, the National Biological Standards Laboratory (NBSL) was established, to test therapeutic products imported into Australia or supplied under the PBS for compliance with quality and manufacturing standards, largely based on the British Pharmacopoeia. 

BCR = Commission of the European Communities, Community Bureau of Reference, Belgium. IAEA = International Atomic Energy Agency, Austria. NIES = National Institute of Environmental Science, Japan. ISS = Istituto Superiore di Sanita (National Institute of Health), Italy. NIST = National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA. AGAL = Australian Government Analytical Laboratory, Australia. NRCC = National Research Council of Canada, Canada. 

Harmonization of pharmacopeial standards as a practical matter began at the International Congresses of Pharmacy between 1865 and 1910 [2], but the first formal attempt can be traced to 1902. Both USP President Horatio C. Wood, M.D., and Frederick M. Power, Ph.D., an American chemist of the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories of London, were appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State as delegates to represent the United States government at the International Conference for the Unification of the Formulae for Heroic Medicines, a conference of 19 countries from Europe and North America [3]. The second conference occurred in 1918. The 3rd in 1925 was attended by 31 countries from all continents except Asia and Australia. They drafted a new International Convention, which came in force in 1929. It revised the 1902 agreements on 77 heroic medicines and introduced the concept of maximum dose. It also requested that the League of Nations create a permanent secretariat of pharmacopeias [4]. Andrew G. DuMez, Ph.D., represented the USP, and was officially appointed by the U.S. Public Health Service to represent the United States at this conference [4,5]. An expert committee of the League of Nations planned a third conference for 1938, but it was never convened because of World War II [2]. 

The scarcity of purified ciguatoxin standards and the challenging nature of analyses for ciguatoxins in fish tissues precluded development or adoption of ciguatoxin methods in most laboratories. While many are certainly capable, only a few laboratories have produced the necessary standards and sustained support required for development and routine application of screening assays and confirmatory analyses for ciguatera toxins. Protocols for in vitro assay and LC-MS/MS analysis of fish tissues have been developed in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) laboratories. Laboratories in Japan (T. Yasumoto) and Australia (R. Lewis) use similar protocols that predate those in the United States. 

The two sources of neutrons are nuclear reactors and particle accelerators (spallation sources). Neutron scattering facilities in North America include the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, Argonne National Laboratory, Chalk River (Canada) Neutron Beam Laboratory, and the University of Missouri (Columbia). Generally, access involves a proposal system for nonproprietary work, with proprietary studies on a fee basis. There are also SANS facilities in Europe, Asia, and Australia. 

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