Trends in quality in the analytical laboratory: I. Traceability and measurement uncertainty of analytical results

Credibility of analytical data has never caught the public’s
eye more than today. The key principle for quality and reliability
of results is comparability between laboratories and on
a wider, international basis. In order to be comparable,
analytical results must be reported with a statement of
measurement uncertainty (MU) and they must be traceable to
common primary references. This work focuses on traceability
and uncertainty of results. We discuss different
approaches to establishing traceability and evaluating MU.
We place both concepts in the broader context of analytical
method validation and quality assurance. We give up-to-date
information in the framework of new, more exacting
European and international standards, such as those from
Eurachem/CITAC, IUPAC and ISO