Presentation and review of study findings

In any study involving analyses, part of the responsibility of management at the analytical laboratory is the review and approval of intermediate and final reported results. In an LSMBS, such review and approval must take place at each analytical laboratory involved in the study. However, different laboratories may focus on different aspects of the analyses, and some means to ensure that review procedures and approaches are consistent among the laboratories is needed. It is advisable, therefore, to include an additional review, termed here an external review , beyond that conducted by the individual laboratories. 

External review is of major importance in ensuring the outcome and reportability of LSMBS study results. Additional experts have the opportunity to review the data and results just after their generation, at a point where corrections can be easily proposed and made. In addition, external review aids in achieving consistency in the results reported by different laboratories. Finally, external review provides feedback for optimization of the analytical and instrumental parameters at each laboratory. 

Each laboratory in the OPMBS was required to send a copy of each workbook and the associated raw data, to study management soon after completion of the analysis. This information was provided after internal technical review but before local quality assurance review. Study management used a team of experienced residue chemists to review the results and the raw data and to ensure that the information reported was fully supportable. The laboratory remained at all times responsible for the data reported, however, and the results of the external review were formally considered to be advisory. 

The external review pointed up several types of occurrences that had to be addressed at the laboratories. In some cases, corrections had to be made, for example if elution peaks had been misidentifled or if the laboratory data system integrated noise and reported a peak where there was none. Such occurrences were observed primarily in the early stages of the study and decreased as the laboratories refined integration parameters for their individual commodities. In other cases, it became apparent that 

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