The influence of experience on the quality of chemical measurements made on soils from former gasworks

A strategy for ensuring that measurements of ten common contaminants found in soils from former gasworks are of optimum quality over long timescales is described. In particular, the performance of laboratories in applying validated measurement methods in both small- and large-scale inter-laboratory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Accreditation and quality assurance 1997-07, Vol.2 (5), p.250-257
Main Authors: JONES, S. D, BLUNDELL, S. P, BODIN, A. M. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Contaminants
Decontamination. Miscellaneous
Exact sciences and technology
Measurement methods
Pollution
Production engineering
Soil and sediments pollution
Soil contamination
Soils
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Summary:A strategy for ensuring that measurements of ten common contaminants found in soils from former gasworks are of optimum quality over long timescales is described. In particular, the performance of laboratories in applying validated measurement methods in both small- and large-scale inter-laboratory trials over a 5-year period is assessed. It is shown that a production engineering concept, the experience curve, has a significant influence on the quality of some of the measurements made and that this concept can be used to model the performance of laboratories. Complexity of the measurement procedure and familiarity of analysts with the measurement operations are suggested as the main drivers of method error. The implications of the achievable quality of measurement on the costs of land re-development and on confidence in the quality of the rejuvenated land are discussed.
ISSN:0949-1775
1432-0517
DOI:10.1007/s007690050142