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Reference materials
LGC, in its role as
the designated UK National Measurement Institute (NMI) for chemical
and biochemical measurements, develops and produces certified
reference materials. These materials help analysts calibrate
their instruments and validate and ensure quality control of their
methods, thus enabling organisations to comply with technical
regulations and provide users with confidence in the results of
chemical measurements.
LGC is accredited to ISO Guide 34: 2000 for
the production of reference materials by UKAS and
is a founder member of the ERM® collaboration, which provides
an additional level of peer review for all materials released under
the ERM brand.
Background
Since the mid 1980s, in its role as the UK
National Measurement Institute for chemical and biochemical
measurement, LGC has produced and certified about 100 'single
substance' and 80 matrix reference materials and has an active
programme to sustain and develop the capability needed to produce
high quality, certified reference materials. This activity is
supported by DIUS’s National Measurement System Chemical and
Biological Metrology Programme.
LGC assigns reference values and their
uncertainties to its materials using data obtained from:
State-of-the-art primary methods (such as
IDMS) and underpinned through participation in the key comparisons
organised by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, The
certificates of materials characterised in this way are recognised
by other NMIs, under the Mutual Recognition Arrangement.
In its role as the
NMI
, LGC serves on the ISO
Committee for Reference Materials (REMCO), which aims to carry out
and encourage a broad international effort for the harmonisation,
production and application of certified reference materials.
Materials
LGC’s single substance materials are primarily
intended for calibrating analytical instruments. They include
pesticides and other organic substances certified for purity,
organic compounds certified for melting point and a range of high
purity materials certified for enthalpy of fusion.
The matrix materials, which enable the
accuracy of an entire analytical procedure to be checked,
include:
- Food products certified for proximates
and trace elements
- Environmental materials, including soils,
sediments and waters, certified for organic and inorganic
contaminants
- A range of alcohol reference materials
certified for ethanol and alcohol content to support drink driving
and excise duty legislation
- Frozen human serum certified for clinical
markers and therapeutic indicators.
All LGC reference materials are available from
LGC Standards and details of all products can be found at http://www.lgcstandards.com
European Reference Material® Collaboration (ERM)
LGC is a founder member of the ERM with IRMM
of the European Commission's Directorate General Joint Research
Centre, Belgium and BAM,
Germany.
The materials are produced according to ISO
Guides 34 and 35 and the collaboration ensures that the most
advanced principles currently available for the production,
homogeneity and stability for all materials are used. Each
material is subject to a detailed peer review by the organisation’s
Technical Committee before release. For details of the ERM
collaboration and materials visit: http://www.erm-crm.org/
Accreditation
LGC has been accredited to ISO Guide
34:2000 as a Reference Material Producer in July 2006.
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