Environmental quality assurance

Internal methods of quality assessment should always be viewed with some level of skepticism because of the potential for bias in their execution and interpretation. For this reason, external methods of quality assessment also play an important role in quality assurance programs. One external method of quality assessment is the certification of a laboratory by a sponsoring agency. Certification is based on the successful analysis of a set of proficiency standards prepared by the sponsoring agency. For example, laboratories involved in environmental analyses may be required to analyze standard samples prepared by the Environmental Protection... 

Example of a prescriptive approach to quality assurance. Adapted from Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Handbook for Analytical Quality Control in Water and Wastewater Laboratories," March 1979. 

Introduction Review and audit processes are used in the chemical process industry to evaluate, examine, and verify the design of process equipment, operating procedures, and management systems. These processes assure compliance with company standards and guidelines as well as government regulations. Reviews and audits can encompass the areas of process and personnel safety, environmental and industrial hygiene protection, quality assurance, maintenance procedures, and so on. 

Lockhart, T. J., "Quality Assurance Handbook for Air Pollution Measurement Systems," Vol. IV, "Meteorological Measurements." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 1989. 

Accountants, administrators, agricultural commissioners, air monitoring, supervisors, coordinators (environmental health project, grants, quality assurance, special project and state implementation plan), grants analysts, officers (enforcement, hearings, staff services, technical services and training), supervisors, and technical advisors. 

Air pollution and environmental officers, environmental protection associates, environmental quality managers and environmentalists, and specialists (air pollution, air pollution control, air quality, air quality control, air resource, envaronmental control, environmental health, environmental management, environmental quality, highway transportation, monitoring, pollution control, program, public participation, quality assurance, and unspecified). 

Quevauviller, P. (ed.) (1995) Quality Assurance in Environmental Monitoring, Wiley-VCH, Wemheim. 

E. A. Hoogendoom and P. van Zoonen, Coupled-column reversed phase liquid chromatography as a versatile technique for the determination of polar pesticides in Environmental Analysis - Techniques, Applications and quality assurance, Barcelo D (Ed.), Vol. 13, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 181-196 (1993). 

D. E. Wells, Environmental analysis. Techniques, Applications and Quality Assurance. Bai celoD, (Eds.), Elsevier Amsterdam, pp. 80-109 (1993). 

Manual of Analytical Methods, J. F. Thompson, Ed. Quality Assurance Section, Chemistry Branch, EPA, Environmental Toxicology Division, Pesticides, Health Effects Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. 

Taylor, J. K. In Quality Assurance for Environmental Measurements" ASTM STP 867 Philadelphia, PA, 1984. 

It can be concluded that, in the field of RM certification, NAA represents a major analytical technique contributing significantly to the certification of element contents in environmental and biological RMs, as was also pointed out earlier (Dyb-czynski 1980 1995), and also provides the bulk of the hterature data on NIST SRMs (Gladney et al. 1987,1993). NAA also has a similar position in the field of geological RMs (Roelandts 1991). It possesses unique quality assurance and self-verification aspects (Becker 1993 Byrne 1993 Byrne and Kucera 1997), though these in-built features are rarely exploited in fuU at present. It should be reahzed that the advanta-... 

Bayona JM (1995) Development of supercritical fluid extraction procedures for the determination of organotin compounds in sediment. In Quevauviller Ph, Maier EA, and Griepink B, eds. Quality assurance for environmental analysis, pp 465-487. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 

Byrne AR, and Kucera J (1997) Role of the self-validation principle of NAA in the quality assurance of bioenvironmental studies and in the certification of reference materials. Proc. Int. Symp. Harmonization of Health Related Environmental Measurements Using Nuclear and Isotopic Techniques, Hyderabad, India, pp 223-238. IAEA Vienna. 

Fairman B, and Sanz-Midel A 1995) Determination of aluminium species in natural waters. In Quevauviiler Ph, Maier EA and Griepink B, eds. Quality Assurance for Environmental Analysis, pp 216-233. Elsevier, Amsterdam,... 

Griepink B eds.. Quality Assurance for Environmental Analysis, pp 89-110. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Horvat M (1996) Mercury speciation and analysis. In Global and Regional Mercury Cycles Sources. Fluxes and Mass Balances, Baeyens W, Ebinghaus R and Vasiliev O, eds. pp 1-31. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. 

Quevauviller Ph, Herzig R. and Muntau H (1996b) Certified reference material of lichen (CRM 482) for the quality control of trace element biomonitoring. Sci Total Environ 187 143-152 Quevauviller Ph, Lachica M., Barahona E, Rauret G, Ure A, Gomez A, and Muntau H (1997) The certification of the EDTA-extractable contents (mass fractions) of Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn and of the DTPA-extractable contents (mass fractions) of Cd and Ni in calcareous soil by the extraction procedures given CRM 600. EUR Report 17555 Quevauviller Ph. Maier EA, and Griepink B, eds. (1995) Quality Assurance for Environmental Analysis. Elsevier. Amsterdam. 

Veecoutere K, and Cornelis R (1995) Chromium speciation in environmental and biological samples. In Quality Assurance for Environmental Analysis, Qubvauviller Ph, Maiee EA and Geiepink B, eds. pp 195-213. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 

Wise SA (1993) Standard reference materials for the determination of trace organic constituents in environmental samples. In Barcelo D, ed. Environmental Analysis Techniques, Applications and Quality Assurance, pp 403-446. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Wise SA, and Schantz MM (1997) Standard reference materials for the determination of trace organic contaminants in environmental samples. In Clement R and Siu M, eds. Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis Making and Using Them, pp 143-186. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. 

VILI.ER Ph, Ed. Quality assurance in environmental monitoring - sampling and sample pretreatment. VCH, Weinheim, Germany. 

EPA Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Quality Assurance... 

In many cases, there is difficulty in preserving residues in samples after collection and prior to pesticide analysis which coincides with a rapid further degradation and mineralization of the pesticide residues under most environmental conditions. Storage stability studies and studies on the reactivity of sample collection equipment in addition to field quality assurance procedures can help address some of these questions. Concerns are accentuated for compounds that have short half-lives in the environment but still have high acute toxicity. 

US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Environmental Investigations Standard Operating Procedures and Quality Assurance Manual, Sections 1-18, EPA, Athens GA (1996 with 1997 revisions). 

Ide HM. 1986. Americium and plutonium in fecal samples a screening procedure. In Health and environmental chemistry Analytical techniques, data management, and quality assurance. Gautier MA, Gladney ES, eds. Los Alamos, NM Los Alamos National Laboratory. Report LA-10300-M. 

U.S. EPA, Technical Guidance Document Construction Quality Assurance for Hazardous Waste Land Disposal Facilities, EPA/530-SW-86-031, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, October 1986. 

The principles of quality assurance are commonly related to product and process control in manufacturing. Today the field of application greatly expanded to include environmental protection and quality control within analytical chemistry itself, i.e., the quality assurance of analytical measurements. In any field, features of quality cannot be reproduced with any absolute degree of precision but only within certain limits of tolerance. These depend on the uncertainties of both the process under control and the test procedure and additionally from the expense of testing and controlling that may be economically justifiable. 

Geifi S, Einax JW (2001) Comparison of detection limits in environmental analysis - is it possible An approach on quality assurance in the lower working range by verification. Fresenius J Anal Chem 370 673... 

EPA (2001) Environmental Protection Agency. Requirements for quality assurance project plans for environmental data operations (EPA QA R/5)... 

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