Eurachem Newsletter No 14 |
Summer 1998 |
Eurachem Events |
Eurachem Events |
4th EUROLAB SYMPOSIUM |
FREE GLOBAL TRADE: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT
FOR TESTING LABORATORIES AND PRODUCT CERTIFICATION The fourth EUROLAB Symposium "Free Global Trade: Opportunity or threat for Testing Laboratories and Product certification?" will be arran-ged on October 8 and 9, 1998 at the ETH in Zurich. The symposium will form a basis for discussions concer-ning how to facilitate global trade. At the symposium several distinguished speakers will give different views and positions on issues of interest to the international testing community. Among the questions which will be discussed on the symposium are: Is the envisioned free and global trade an op-portunity or a threat for testing labo-ratories and product certifiers? Do ac-creditation and notification really con-tribute to a free global market? Is standardization in fact suited to reduce technical barriers to trade? Do quality, safety and the environment benefit from all these efforts? These questions are undoubtedly of great interest for economy and indus-try, for testing, accreditation and stan-dardization communities as well as for all authorities concerned. The 4th EUROLAB Symposium will provide a forum for the parties involved to present and discuss these topics. Renowned speakers are invited to present their views. Provocative or even controversial opinions and lively debates are expec-ted (and welcome). Arrangements are made to facilitate applications of persons from PHARE-benefi-ciary countries for funding to cover participant´s fee, travel expenses, and accom-modation (within the framework PRAQIII Programme). Applications should be sent to the national PRAQIII co-ordinators. For further information please contact your national EUROLAB or M. Holmgren, EUROLAB c/o SP, Box 857, SE-501 15 Borås, Sweden Fax: +46 33 16 50 10, e-mail: magnus.holmgren@sp.se Web site: http.//www.empa.ch/eurolab
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Eurachem Events |
ILAC`98 Conference and General Assembly 18 - 23 October 1998, Sydney, Australia |
The ILAC`98 Conference aims to provide laboratories, accreditation bodies, government authorities, industry bo-dies and others with information on current issues relating to testing, measurement and accreditation. Topics cover a broad range of subjects, mostly as seminar-style presentations by experts in the field. There are also two major forums enquiring after · Will the new Guide 25 be used consistently by labs and accreditors? · Laboratoy accreditation - the missing links These topics need more intensive discussion and develop-ment, and the forums give participants the oportunity to
contribute to the discussions, seek guidance with particular problems, and receive a deeper understanding and appre-ciation of the issues under consideration. ILAC General Assembly (ILAC members and observers only) starts 22 October 1998 at 1.30 p.m. The one-and-a-half-day General Assembly will set the agenda for ILAC for the year 2000 and beyond. For more information, full programme and registration details on ILAC`98 Conference, please contact: ILAC`98 Conference Secretariat GPO Box 128 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia Telephone: +61 2 9262 2277 Fax: +61 2 9262 3135 Email: ilac98@tourhosts.com.au or visit: http://www.tourhosts.com.au/ilac98
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Eurachem Events |
Major ILAC and CITAC Events on the Fifth Continent |
CITAC International Symposium on Analytical QA for the 21st Century 15-16 October 1998, Sydney, Australia
CITAC will be holding a two-day international symposium, in association with the ILAC 98 Conference, on 'Analytical Quality Assurance for the 21st Century' at the National Measurement Laboratory, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia on 15-16 October 1998. The pressure on laboratories to demons-trate the validity of their results is constantly increasing and this symposium has been organised to update analytical scientists, accreditation and metrology specialists, managers and users of data with developments in the quality tools that are needed. In addition, the framework for an International Chemical Measurement System will be discussed. At the symposium, international experts will report on re-cent progress in the development of metrology and QA pro-cedures in analytical chemistry and delegates will be invited to contribute to the discussions. The theme for day one is 'Providing Transparent Evidence of Quality' and will cover recent international developments in QA strategies, in-cluding both management and technical issues. Subjects being presented include 'QA of R&D and Non-Routine Analysis', 'Method Validation of Modern Analytical Tech-niques' and 'Quality Issues in Proficiency Testing'. Day two sessions will focus on international developments on re-ference measurements and reference materials and will fea-ture papers on 'The Equivalence of National Standards' and 'Integrating Chemical Measurements into the National Measurement System', together with papers on matrix refe-rence material provision and the synthesis and characteri-sation of pure substance standards for forensic, agricultural and food safety analysis. The registration fee for delegates is A$300 for both days or A$200 per day which includes lunch, session refreshments and a reception on 15 October. Delegates from sponsoring organisations and bone fide students will be offered an A$50 discount. For further information and registration, please contact: Mr Alan Squirrell (CITAC Chair), |
Eurachem Events |
IUPAC-ISO/REMCO-BAM-EUROLAB-D Workshop on Proper Use of Environmental Matrix Reference Materials |
22-23 April 1999, Berlin, Germany Natural matrix reference materials represent a specific group of reference materials. The characterization and cer-tification of these materials is fraught with many complex problems related to traceability and uncertainty of the assigned values. These materials are, due to variety of rea-sons, often misused in the analytical process. The aim of the workshop is to build up the awareness of the RM users about how various types of RM should be utilized. Representatives from various reference material producing organizations will present how they expect analysts to employ their respective reference materials. Participation of representatives from BAM, IAEA, IRMM, LGC, NIST, NIMCR, NRCCRM, and some other RM producing organi-zations is foreseen. The Workshop will include also lectures related to the ISO Guide 33, Database COMAR and the activities of ISO/REMCO. The Workshop will consist of lectures presented by invited experts followed by immediate discussion and a general dis-cussion related to the users´ needs and new strategies in characterization and certification of natural matrix refe-rence materials. For further information, please contact: EUROLAB-D, Gudrun Neumann D-12200 Berlin Phone/Fax: +49 30 81 04 37 69/+49 30 81 04 37 17 Email: Gudrun.Neumann@bam.de
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Eurachem Events |
EURACHEM 10th Anniversary |
EURACHEM will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary with a series of meetings in Helsinki in mid June 1999, which is one of the best times of the year to visit Finland and Hel-sinki, the Daughter of the Baltic. The programme includes a workshop, training course, bu-siness meetings, a day of celebration, and social activities.
Please make a note of these dates in your diary. |
Eurachem Events |
Paul de Bièvre took his leave from IRMM |
After a long and very successful scientific career, former EURACHEM Chair Professor
Paul De Bièvre retired from his managerial duties as the Head of JRC (Joint Research
Centre) Reference Laboratory for Primary Isotopic Measurements at IRMM Geel in May 1998.
As a tribute to Paul De Bièvre´s distiguished career, a scien-tific colloquium and
thinkshop" was organized May 18 and 19 in Geel, Belgium. The thinkshop entitled Isotopic Ex-change - the Potential of Isotopes in the Context of the EU´s 5th Frame-work Programme" started with an opening address by Prof Grasserbauer, Director of IRMM. Internationally re-nowned invited speakers like J Dennis (Norwich), G Dube (Braunschweig), K Fröhlich (Wien), R Perrin (Colorado Springs), T Walczyk (Rüschlikon), and Paul De Bièvre himself reviewed the results and possibilities for an extended use of isotopes in metrology and analysis related to food, drugs, environment, geochemistry, and human health. During the evening ceremony, Prof Grasserbauer eulogized Paul De Bièvre´s achievements and condensed the essence of his work on traceability in a message: Comparability, not traceability, of measurement results is the aim, but traceability is the tool towards comparability. The event was accompanied by the kick-off meeting launching the Virtual Institute for Primary Isotopic Measu-rements in Europe (EURO-PIM), which is based at IRMM and com-prises 6 national institutions commit-ted to primary methods and reference materials - BAM and PTB (Germany), EMPA (Switzerland), NMi (Nether-lands), NPL (U.K.), and IRMM. The task of EURO-PIM is to provide the EU with a programme and an infra-structure needed for isotopic measure-ments of the highest quality required in the establishment of metrology in chemical measurement. Paul De Bièvre was appointed Adviser for Traceability to the IRMM, is respon-sible for EURO-PIM and will bring his experience in the field of chemical metrology to bear in the future acti-vities of the Virtual Institute.
Besides that, Paul De Bièvre will continue contributing to EURACHEM and assist the new Committee member P Taylor from IRMM in taking over his duties. Prof Klaus Meyer
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Eurachem Events |
EURACHEM 10th Anniversary |
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EURACHEM 10th Anniversary |
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Eurachem News Summer 1998 |
News from all over Europe |
EURACHEM-Finland organized its traditional spring seminar - this time together with EUROLAB-Finland - in March 1998. The topic of the seminar was Total Quality Management (TQM). In this joint seminar of the two organizations the chairman of EUROLAB-Finland Mr. Jan- Erik Levlin and the chairman of EURACHEM-Finland Mr. Veikko Komppa presented the structure and tasks of the organizations and especially in national and international forums. Three invited experts, Mr. Marko Lehtovaara (Helsinki University of Technology), Mr. Pentti Jantunen (Valmet Oy) and Mr. Mika Mustonen(FIMKO Oy) gave interesting lectures about TQM. Mr. Lehtovaara's topic was an introduction to the philosophy of TQM. Mr. Jantunen told about TQM in the international company where TQM has been utilised to enhance competitiveness whereas Mr. Mustonen told about experiences concerning self- evaluation. The spring seminar offered many new thoughts for altogether 55 participants. Anna-Liisa Pikkarainen
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Eurachem News Summer 1998 |
EURACHEM -Czech Republic
Boosting Uncertainty Evaluation |
The Czech branch of EURACHEM develops a lot of educational and editorial activities for the Czech members. Seven volumes of laboratory guidelines KVALIMETRIE (Qualime-trics) were issued from 1992. The last three volumes were the most impor-tant:
All publications are in Czech lan-guage. More than two hundred copies of Vol. 4 and 6 guidelines were sold and new editions of these documents had to be printed. A successful workshop on Uncer-tainty of selected analytical measure-ments" with 120 participants was held in February this year. During the workshop, two detailed uncertainty studies were presented: Uncertainty of nitrate determination in biotic matrices by IC, and Uncertainty of mercury determination in food by AAS. An electronic version of these two lectures on floppy disk including detailed uncertainty budget calculations is now distributed. The next workshop dealing with uncertainty budget calculation for another analytical study of model character will be held in September. EURACHEM-CZ is a relatively big organization. At present, approx. 80 institutions representing more than 200 individuals are EURACHEM-CZ members. Miloslav Suchanek |
Eurachem News Summer 1998 |
EURACHEM -Switzerland
Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry CEAC-ETHZ |
The Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry (CEAC) has been imple-mented by a group of scientists from ETHZ, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), the Swiss Institute for Materials Testing and Re-search (EMPA), and the Paul-Scherrer Institute (PSI) in summer 1995. The main goal of the Center of Excel-lence in Analytical Chemistry is to promote research collaborations and to coordinate teaching activities between these institutions, thus strengthening the status of analytical chemistry as a whole. The CEAC has entered its third year: Many of the ideas have been successfully established. A couple of activities may illustrate the principle involvement:
CEAC information can be accessed by the following www-address: http:// ceac.ethz.ch. Copies of the Annual Report 1997 are available from: Ms. Elsa Lampkin, Laboratorium für Organische Chemie, ETH Zentrum, CH - 8092 Zürich, Telephone +41-1-632 4377, Fax +41-1-632 1292, e-mail: lampkin@org.chem.ethz.ch Dr. Niklaus Klaentschi |
Eurachem News Summer 1998 |
EURACHEM -Cyprus
Talking Accreditation |
EURACHEM-Cyprus and the Cyprus Organization for Standards and Control of Quality (CYS) organized a seminar on accreditation of analytical laboratories. Dr Robert Kaarls, former EAL Chairman and now EA Vice President, was the invited speaker (see photo on opposite page during his lecture). The event took place in Nicosia at the end of January and was attended by more than 40 participants involved in laboratory work in this field. EURACHEM-Cyprus decided to promote the co-operation with 3 working groups (i.e. Analytical Chemistry, Foodstuffs and Education) recently established by the Pancyprian Union of Chemists (PUC) in its capacity as a member of the Federation of European Chemists (FECS). It is expected that this co-operation will contribute to the promotion of EURA-CHEM targets in Cyprus. Kyriacos Tsimillis
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Eurachem Workshops |
Workshop Report
QA and the Computer |
An international symposium and workshop covering ?Quality Assu-rance in Computerised Laboratories - Analytical, Clinical & Pharmaceutical Laboratories" took place in Copen-hagen June 11th and 12th, 1998. It was arranged by the AOAC Europe Section in collaboration with EURACHEM and organized by the Danish Technological Institute. Some 110 participants from all over Europe including Middle and East European countries, but also from the U.S. and Israel, gathered together for two days to discuss the technological development and the ongoing impro-vements brought to the analytical laboratory by computerisation and automation with respect to actual, planned and potentially necessary QA regulations and requirements. The symposium was subdivided into two sessions - the first one dealing with "Technological Developments and Trends", and a second session entitled "Needs and Requirements for Quality Assurance". The first session was opened by an impressive review on the use of computers for data processing in the modern laboratory by Director Thomas P. Layloff from FDA Division of Drug Analysis, St. Louis, U.S.A., recalling the beginnings of machine-based data-processing power and comparing it to modern state-of-the-art teraflop-processor power and completely computer-controlled analytical labs. Other topics covered were benefits and pitfalls of computerisation in labs, LIMS and information/communication technolo-gies. Topics dealt with during session 2 were validation of hard- and software, the interpretation of GLP, data archi-ving and security, and the applicability of electronic reporting. The session ended with a detailed re-port on how european accreditation bodies (EA) assess the quality of data handling in the modern laboratory, given by Lead Assessor Merih Malm-qvist from SWEDAC. During the afternoon workshop on day 2 of the symposium, all topics from implementation of computers and software in the analytical lab to accreditation and use of computers were discussed in six working groups, and the results reported to the plenum. Contributions and results of the symposium will be published in a forthcoming issue of Accreditation & Quality Assurance". Opening address and closing remarks to the symposium/workshop were gi-ven by Dr Paul Beljaars, President of AOAC International, and Dr Maire Walsh, Past Chair of EURACHEM, respectively. The symposium/workshop was accompanied by a poster exhibition. A competition for the best poster had been announced in advance, and the best poster came from Lithuania. The author, P. Serapinas from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy in Vilnius, was awarded a ticket to attend the 1998 AOAC International Annual Meeting in Montreal and to present the winning poster on computer analysis of QC charts and data distribution functions. Congratulations! The friendly conference site at Høje Taastrup (20 kilometers away from Copenhagen City), excellent working conditions and the perfect organization by our Danish colleagues have done their bit and made the symposium a complete success. Wolfram Bremser
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Eurachem News: Reports |
EURACHEM Annual Meeting in Budapest |
On invitation from EURACHEM-Hungary, EURACHEM´s Annual Meeting was held on 21-25 April 1998 in Budapest at Hotel Agro which, located uphill, provided a panoramic view of the former twin cities Buda and Pest. The pro-gramme included meetings of the Executive Committee, the Full Committee, the working groups on Measurement Uncertainty and on Education and Training, and a con-cluding Puszta tour. The meeting was attended by 50 re-gistered participants from 25 coun-tries, predominantly from Europe, but with a noticeable transcon-tinental flavour from Australia, Japan and the United States. Invi-tees included Ronald Christensen, Executive Director of AOAC Inter-national, Wiktor Raldow, Head of the European Commission´s SMT Programme, and Alan Squirrell, Chairman of CITAC. In Session:Taking over the Chairmanship New Chair and Vice ChairThe EURACHEM Chair, held by Maire Walsh from State Laborato-ry, Ireland, was handed over to Veikko Komppa from VTT Chemi-cal Technology, Finland, who so far had been Vice Chair. In parallel, Ed de Leer from The Netherlands Measurement Institute became EURACHEM´s new Vice Chair. New GuidesThe Full Committee approved two new guidance documents prepared by EURACHEM working groups:
The draft documents will be rapidly processed for final editing and publication during the year. In addition, EURACHEM approved the final draft IUPAC Guide on re-covery factors, entitled Harmo-nized Guidelines for the Use of Recovery Information in Analytical Measurement", that was recently under voting among IUPAC, AOAC International, ISO/REMCO and other contributing organiza-tions. Forthcoming WorkshopsThe current programme of work-shops in preparation, organized or co-organized by EURACHEM includes:
EURACHEM´s 10th Anniversary MeetingEURACHEM will celebrate its 10th anniversary on 13-18 June 1999 in Helsinki, Finland. The programme includes the third Workshop on Measurement Uncertainty, EURACHEM Business Meetings, the 10 Year Anniversary Meeting with in-vitees, a visit to VTT or Finnish chemical industry and a tour to Tallinn. Cooperations and LiaisonsThe Committee reviewed the status of EURACHEM´s cooperations and liaisons with european and inter-national organizations whose activities impinge on the Analytical Chemistry community, e. g. EA (formerly EAL), EUROLAB, EUROMET, ILAC, AOAC International and CCQM. Items currently under consideration included:
Working groupsEURACHEM has working groups on
The Measurement Uncertainty WG (Chair: Alex Williams) is currently revising the Guide Quantifying Uncertainty in Analytical Measurement", aiming to present the draft 2nd edition at the Measurement Uncertainty Work-shop in June 1999, Helsinki. In addition, the programme of this workshop is in preparation. The Education and Training WG (Chair: Bernd Neidhart) is cur-rently preparing the final pro-gramme of the forthcoming work-shop in September 1998, Geesthacht, entitled Current issues in teaching quality in chemical measurements - Filling the gap bet-ween theory and reality". In addi-tion, a glossary of analytical terms has been prepared interactively", through publication of draft definitions and multi-lingual trans-lations in the journal Accreditation and Quality Assurance. The R&D WG (Chair: Karl Cammann) finalized the draft EURACHEM/CITAC Guide on QA in R&D and Non-routine Analysis, to be launched at the forthcoming workshop at Euroanalysis in September 1998, and at the CITAC Symposium on Analytical QA for the 21st Century, to be held in Sydney, 15-16 October 1998. In addition to these working groups, EURACHEM has interface WGs with EA and EUROLAB, dealing with items of joint concern:
The main task of both groups is to provide guidance and support to laboratories as well as to assessors concerning accreditation. Another major task is to interact with other committees to harmonize work done on these key issues, and minimize duplication. Currently the options for a joint EURACHEM/EUROMET WG on Traceability are under consideration. Focal agenda itemsThe focal technical issue on the agenda of the Full Committee mee-ting has been traceability in chemi-cal measurement. In a series of key-note lectures different views on this controversial issue were outlined: B King and P De Bievre presented complementary views from EURACHEM, and EUROMET, respectively, while M Walsh and E de Leer emphasized practitioners views and practical procedures.
Discussion of this topic will be con-tinued, aiming at an agreed EURACHEM position on traceability in chemical measurement. As another focal item, continuation of the European Commission´s Standards, Measurement and Testing (SMT) Programme within the 5th Framework Programme cur-rently under development was dis-cussed, based on a presentation by W Raldow. The Committee agreed to join forces with EA and EUROLAB to emphasize the signi-ficance of the SMT programme for EU policy. A topic of major concern was the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 25, now to become an International Stan-dard ISO 17025. Based on a pre-sentation by E de Leer, various key items were discussed, and the need was identified to arrange input to ISO/CASCO. Policy issuesThe basic strategy paper "EURACHEM 2000" is currently under revision. The first draft revi-sion was discussed in detail at the meeting, to be continued during the year by correspondence. Needs for action agreed at the meeting include
ClosureThe meeting was closed by thanking the hosts, in particular Peter Fodor and Eva Thiry. The 1999 Annual Meeting will be hosted by EURACHEM-Finland, in conjunction with EURACHEM´s 10th Anniversary Meeting, to be held on 13-18 June 1998 in Helsinki. Werner Hässelbarth
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Eurachem News: Reports |
EURACHEM´s WWW Site Much in Demand |
EURACHEM´s www site at www.vtt.fi/ket/eurachem advances in attracting the interest of the analytical community. Here are some statistics for a time frame of only one month (05/01/98 - 05/31/98): 2534 successful hits for entire site, 1352 page views, 656 user sessions, 81 hits per day (average), and 21 user sessions per day. The regional distribution is interesting: 22.56 % user sessions from Finland, 67.53 % international user sessions, and 9.90 % user sessions of unknown origin. The fourth part of all sessions is carried out from Finland, where the site is located physically. Who are the users of un-known origin? The Newsletter will keep you informed about EURACHEM´s attractivity on the web!
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Eurachem: Contact Points |
EURACHEM Committee and Contact Points
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