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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Composition and Methods Development Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #119210

Title: REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR CHEMICAL ANALYSIS: CERTIFICATION, AVAILABILITY ANDPROPER USAGE

Author
item Wolf, Wayne

Submitted to: Reference Materials for Chemical Analysis Certification, Availability and
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2001
Publication Date: 3/1/2002
Citation: Wolf, W.R. 2002. Reference materials for chemical analysis: certification, availability and proper usage. Weinheim,Germany: Wiley-VCH. 279-292.

Interpretive Summary: There has been a tremendous growth in the use of Reference Materials (RMs), which have become an everyday part of the quality system in analytical laboratories. This explosion has exposed many analysts, master and neophyte alike, to the processes and procedures associated with the use of RMs, but without formal training and only few useful references. There are few references explaining why RMs are used, how they should be used and what happens when they are not properly used. This book is intended to both guide the production and use of RMs and also to be a primary reference source. Contributions from more than 30 RM practitioners have been edited to produce a highly readable text. The book starts with an introduction to historical, theoretical and technical requirements and, over nine chapters and 300 pages, examines all aspects of RM production, from planning, preparation through analysis to certification, reviews development and applications areas, considers the proper usage of RMs, looks at future needs and lastly gives advice on availability and sources of information. Comprehensively indexed and with many references, this book should be on the reading list and be found on the library shelf of anyone working in all analytical chemistry laboratories.

Technical Abstract: There has been a tremendous growth in the use of Reference Materials (RMs), which have become an everyday part of the quality system in many labs. This explosion in use has exposed many analysts, master and neophyte alike to the processes and procedures associated with the use of RMs, but without formal training and only few useful references. There are many academic references describing how RMs are made, but few that explain why they are used, how they should be used and what happens when they are not properly used. This book is intended to be the single point of reference that both guides the user through the use of RMs and is a primary reference source. Contributions from more than 30 RM practitioners have been edited to produce a highly readable text which starts with an introduction to historical theoretical and technical requirements and over nine chapters and 300 pages examines all aspects of RM production, from planning, preparation through analysis to certification, reviews seven recent development areas, examines six applications fields, considers the proper usage of RMs, looks at future need a and organizational aspects and lastly gives advice on availability and sources of information. This book is comprehensively indexed with many references.