PROTOTYPE INTERNATIONAL QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

The international community presently lacks the ability to determine t he quality and credibility of environmental measurements that is requi red to make sound decisions in matters related to international securi ty, public health, and investment-related considerations. The ultimate goal of the work described in this article is to develop a credible i nformation base including measurement capability for determination of environmental contamination and the potential for proliferation of mat erial components of chemical or nuclear weapons. This study compared t he accuracy obtained by six Russian and six U.S. laboratories for samp les representative of classes of trace metals, dioxin-furans, and radi oactive substances. The results obtained in this work indicate that cu rrent estimates for laboratory accuracy are likely overly optimistic. The weaknesses discovered by this prototype U.S. - Russia study also e xist within the broader international community of laboratories. Furth er work is proposed to address the urgent need for the international c ommunity to improve performance evaluations for analytical measurement s.