Peculiarities of qualitative RM and accreditation of their producers
- With a more and more general acceptance of accreditation in the field of reference materials production, and an ever increasing number of RMP accredited, accreditation bodies face applications from RMP active in the field of qualitative RM production.
While (the still valid and used for accreditation purposes) ISO Guides 34 and 35 describe in detail requirements applicable to RMP dealing with quantitative RM, accreditation bodies normally claim lack of normative requirements with respect to quantitative RM. The new ISO 17034:2016 which will be introduced in the accreditation practice over the next two to three years solves the problem pragmatically, allowing strategies for RM certification other than those for (purely) quantitative materials.
In fact, both ISO Guide 34 and the new ISO 17034 are written in a form that, at least for the overwhelming majority of requirements, may be applied to RMP of both qualitative and quantitative RM. Peculiarities may occur in homogeneity andWith a more and more general acceptance of accreditation in the field of reference materials production, and an ever increasing number of RMP accredited, accreditation bodies face applications from RMP active in the field of qualitative RM production.
While (the still valid and used for accreditation purposes) ISO Guides 34 and 35 describe in detail requirements applicable to RMP dealing with quantitative RM, accreditation bodies normally claim lack of normative requirements with respect to quantitative RM. The new ISO 17034:2016 which will be introduced in the accreditation practice over the next two to three years solves the problem pragmatically, allowing strategies for RM certification other than those for (purely) quantitative materials.
In fact, both ISO Guide 34 and the new ISO 17034 are written in a form that, at least for the overwhelming majority of requirements, may be applied to RMP of both qualitative and quantitative RM. Peculiarities may occur in homogeneity and stability testing, and the uncertainty of a purely qualitative result is still under discussion. The problem of traceability might be solved for most of the application fields considered.
The talk gives an overview of the specific problems encountered, and provides some possible solutions both for homogeneity and stability testing, the expression of uncertainty, and the statement of traceability in certificates.…