GA Discussion Forum 2012

What would you most like to discuss at the 2012 GA?

The GA includes a discussion forum which allows national delegates to discuss a current topic in depth and consider what action Eurachem should take. For the 2012 GA, the Executive have identified four current topics, listed and described below.

After reading the description, the Executive would like your opinion on preferred topics. To express an opinion, check the button next to your first and second preferences at the end of this page. If you prefer, you may go straight to the poll

Topics:

Validation of qualitative analysis

Eurachem has a draft guide on uncertainty for qualitative results that is planned to be ready next year. A possible continuation for this working group is to draft a validation guide. During the discussion forum we can discuss how to validate qualitative test methods and consider the need for further guidance

Determination of detection limit

Determination of the detection limit for quantitative analysis seems to be a never ending story amongst analytical chemists. Looking in the literature there seem to be many different approaches. In the discussion forum we would like to present a robust and simple approach to determine the detection limit for a routine analytical procedure in a laboratory and discuss the pro and con’s.

The new SI system

The objective of the new SI is to move away from physical artefacts for the definition of units. The scheme is to identify various fundamental constants and to define their values exactly once and for all. That happened in one instance some time ago, when in 1983 the speed of light was set as 299 792 458 m/s exactly. With that constant defined, the metre was defined in terms of the second and the standard metre rod was confined to history. The same approach is now to be extended to certain other constants. For example, instead of the mole being defined as the number of atoms in 1 g of carbon-12, it is proposed that its magnitude be set by defining the exact value of Avogadro's constant.  In the discussion forum the new definitions will be presented and discussed.

Accreditation issues

Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO 15189 is a cornerstone of analyical quality assurance. The discussion forum would focus on improving accreditation. Delegates will be invited to give examples of non-conformities in the accreditation process where the laboratory and the technical assessors as well as the lead assessor have different  views in interpretation of the accreditation standard. The aim will be to identify needs for further guidance.

Your preference

Check the buttons for your first and second preferences below and press 'Submit preference' to record your preference. If you would like to suggest one or more future topics, please do so in the text box art the end of the form before submitting your preferences.
Note: We have requested an email address here only to check for accidental duplicate responses.