Standards reference measurement

Keywords Traceability Laboratory medicine Biological variation Analytical bias Quality assurance Standardization Reference measurement system Joint Committee on Traceability for Laboratory Medicine... 

Figure C2.8.3. A tliree-electrode electrochemical set-up used for the measurement of polarization curves. A potentiostat is used to control the potential between the working electrode and a standard reference electrode. The current is measured and adjusted between an inert counter-electrode (typically Pt) and the working electrode.

Table 8.17 Standard Reference Values pH for the Measurement of Acidity in...

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is the source of many of the standards used in chemical and physical analyses in the United States and throughout the world. The standards prepared and distributed by the NIST are used to caUbrate measurement systems and to provide a central basis for uniformity and accuracy of measurement. At present, over 1200 Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are available and are described by the NIST (15). Included are many steels, nonferrous alloys, high purity metals, primary standards for use in volumetric analysis, microchemical standards, clinical laboratory standards, biological material certified for trace elements, environmental standards, trace element standards, ion-activity standards (for pH and ion-selective electrodes), freezing and melting point standards, colorimetry standards, optical standards, radioactivity standards, particle-size standards, and density standards. Certificates are issued with the standard reference materials showing values for the parameters that have been determined. 

Physical or artifactual standards are used for comparison, caUbration, etc, eg, the national standards of mass, length, and time maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or the standard reference materials (SRMs) collected and distributed by NIST. Choice of the standard is determined by the property it is supposed to define, its ease of measurement, its stabiUty with time, and other factors (see Fine chemicals). 

Standard reference materials provide a necessary but insufficient means for achieving accuracy and measurement compatibiUty on a national or international scale. Good test methods, good laboratory practices, well-qualified personnel, and proper intralaboratory and intedaboratory quaUty assurance procedures ate equally important. A systems approach to measurement compatibiUty is ikustrated in Figure 2. The function of each level is to transfer accuracy to the level below and to help provide traceabiUty to the level above. Thus traversing the hierarchy from bottom to top increases accuracy at the expense of measurement efficiency. 

There are numerous solubility data in the literature the standard reference is by Seidell (loc. cit.). Valuable as they are, they nevertheless must be used with caution because the solubihty of compounds is often influenced by pH and/or the presence of other soluble impurities which usually tend to depress the solubihty of the major constituents. While exact values for any system are frequently best determined by actual composition measurements, the difficulty of reproducing these solubility diagrams should not be underestimated. To obtain data which are readily reproducible, elaborate pains must be taken to be sure the system sampled is at equihbrium, and often this means holding a sample at constant temperature for a period of from 1 to 100 h. While the published cui ves may not be exac t for actual solutions of interest, they generally will be indicative of the shape of the solubility cui ve and will show the presence of hydrates or double salts. 

B is the potential of the reference electrode, without whose identification the potential U is undefined. Potentials are conveniently calculated against a standard reference value. Section 3.2 contains further details on reference electrodes and conversion factors. Section 3.3 describes practical methods for measuring potential in the case of flowing currents. 

Describe the rationale for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s establishment of a standard reference method for measurement of National Ambient Air Quality Standard air pollutants. 

Review the air pollution literature and describe the difficulties in establishing a standard reference method for measuring NO2. 

Because of the complex nature of the discharge conditions, GD-OES is a comparative analytical method and standard reference materials must be used to establish a unique relationship between the measured line intensities and the elemental concentration. In quantitative bulk analysis, which has been developed to very high standards, calibration is performed with a set of calibration samples of composition similar to the unknown samples. Normally, a major element is used as reference and the internal standard method is applied. This approach is not generally applicable in depth-profile analysis, because the different layers encountered in a depth profile of ten comprise widely different types of material which means that a common reference element is not available. 

If relative sensitivity factors are used, reference measurement of standard samples is not necessary. The ratio of two different elemental concentrations in one sample is given by ... 

The standard refers you to ISO 10012 for guidance in meeting these requirements and indeed this standard should be consulted when setting up your measurement system. ISO 10012, however, does not cover all the aspects of element 4.11 of ISO 9001. 

C 0.5012 mol 2 at 15°C). It is clearly unwise to associate a pH meter reading too closely with pH unless under very controlled conditions, and still less sensible to relate the reading to the actual hydrogen-ion concentration in solution. For further discussion of pH mea.surements, see Pure Appl. Chem. 57, 531-42 (1985) Definition of pH Scales, Standard Reference Values, Measurement of pH and Related Terminology. Also C E News, Oct. 20. 1997. p. 6. 

The authors demonstrated the importance that correct use of the MDGC-IRMS System is essential for the achievement of precise and accurate measurements. Table 10.4 reports the GC-IRMS measurements of some standard reference materials, obtained with different cut conditions. As can be seen from this table, premature cuts result in 8 C values which are significantly higher than the true values, while delayed cuts give lower 8 C values. This fact indicates that the beginning of the peak is enriched in C, while the end is depleted. 

Table 10.4 GC-IRMS measurements of standard reference materials obtained under different cut conditions (25)...

The thermodynamic driving force behind the corrosion process can be related to the corrosion potential adopted by the metal while it is corroding. The corrosion potential is measured against a standard reference electrode. For seawater, the corrosion potentials of a number of constructional materials are shown in Table 53.1. The listing ranks metals in their thermodynamic ability to corrode. Corrosion rates are governed by additional factors as described above. 

Standard reference test method for making potentiostatic and potentiodynamic anodic polarisation measurements Recommended practice for atmospheric environmental exposure testing of nonmetal-lic materials... 

An ASTM recommended practice (A Standard Reference Method for Making Potentiostatic and Potentiodynamic Anodic Polarisation Measurements, G5 1972) has been issued. It provides a means of checking experimental technique and instrumentation using a specimen from a single heat of AISI Type 430 stainless steel, which is available from ASTM. ... 

The reliability of the results depends in large measure on how well deviations from the (ideal) linear relationship between log / and dry weight per unit area can be eliminated or allowed for. As is well known, this can be accomplished by the comparative method (3.10), provided that standard (reference system) and unknown, identical in mass, shape, and elementary composition, are exposed to the same x-ray beam. In the cytological investigations, these conditions are difficult to meet, not only because the samples are complex in composition, but also because they are very small, as is clear from the units employed (micromicrograms per square micron or 10 12 gram per 10 8 sq cm). 

Several books and symposium proceedings on luminescence standards and measurements have been published in the last several years, including "Advances in Standards and Methodology in Spectrophotometry" (i), "Measurement of Fhotolumlnescence" (2), "Standards in Fluorescence Spectrometry" (J), and "Modern Fluorescence Spectroscopy" (Volumes 1-4) (4). These books, the references within them, and the classic in the field, "Photoluminescence of Solutions" by C.A. Parker (5), provide the researcher with extensive information about luminescence standards and measurements. 

Procedures for determining the spectral responslvlty or correction factors In equation 2 are based on radiance or Irradlance standards, calibrated source-monochromator combinations, and an accepted standard. The easiest measurement procedure for determining corrected emission spectra Is to use a well-characterized standard and obtain an Instrumental response function, as described by equation 3 (17). In this case, quinine sulfate dlhydrate has been extensively studied and Issued as a National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Standard Reference Material (SRM). 

One distingnishes practical and standard reference electrodes. A standard RE is an electrode system of particnlar confignration, the potential of which, nnder specified conditions, is conventionally taken as zero in tfie corresponding scale of potentials (i.e., as the point of reference nsed in finding tfie potentials of otfier electrodes). Practical REs are electrode systems having a snfficiently stable and reproducible value of potential which are nsed in the laboratory to measure the potentials of other electrodes. The potential of a practical reference electrode may difier from the conventional zero potential of the standard electrode, in which case the potential of the test electrode is converted to this scale by calculation. 

Cali JP and Stanley CL (1975) Measurement compatibility and standard reference materials. Annu Rev Mat Sci 5 329-343. 

Cali JP, Mears TW, Michaelis RE, Reed WP, Seward RW, Stanley CL, Yolken HT, and Ku HH (1975) The role of standard reference materials in measurement systems. NBS Monograph 148, Washington DC. 

Lee H-B and Chau ASY (1987) Analytical reference materials Part VII. development and certification of a sediment reference material for total polychlorinated biphenyls. Analyst 112 37-40. Meinke WW (1971) Standard reference materials for clinical measurements. Anal Chem 43(6) 28A-47A. 

Golas DB (1998) NIST radiopharmaceutical standard reference materials and the NEI/NIST radiopharmaceutical measurement assurance program. Appl. Radiat Isot 49/4 329-334. 

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