1.2 Specificity of Chemical Metrology
5
1.2 Specificity of Chemical Metrology
Chemical measurements performed in many fields are used for many crucial decisions
regarding, for example, safety and quality of life. The results of clinical measurements
are used by medical doctors to make decisions regarding the status of our health
and the possible need for medical treatment is worked out on the basis of those
results. Information on the composition of foodstuffs are important in respect to being
allowed in the marketplace, and ensuring food safety for consumers. In addition, those
are not the only areas in which chemical measurements are used; also important
are the anti-doping tests in sport, the quality control tests in production processes,
monitoring of the environment, and many others. Due to the need to carry out various
chemical measurements, namely as a consequence of the introduction of related legal
regulations (within European Union the recommendations stem from, among other
things, the requirements described in various directives, e.g., the Water Framework
Directive), the number of testing labs that carry out such measurements and the
number of people employed has been increasing exponentially in recent years. Hence
there is a need to establish and implement common principles of measurements
conducted in testing laboratories, in order to ensure the credibility of the results of
measurements. The international standard ISO/IEC 17025, ‘General Requirements
for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories,’ requiring validation of
the measuring procedure, highlighted the uncertainty of the result obtained with the
use of the procedure and the ensuring of measurement traceability were highlighted.
Those three parameters: validation, uncertainty and traceability are considered to be a
pre-requirement for obtaining sound results, hence their relationship with metrology
and its principles are closely linked.
What exactly is chemical metrology and what is its position in metrology? It is the
metrology principle used for the evaluation of chemical properties of given objects
by chemists in the analytical laboratory so as to perform measurements, aiming to
determine the qualitative and quantitative composition of samples.
1.2.1 Calibration of a Measuring Tool
Before discussing the specifics of chemical measurement, it is worth referring to the
term used in the context of measurement traceability:, i.e. ‘calibration.’
Calibration: the operation that, under specific conditions, first establishes a relationship between the quantity values with measurements uncertainties provided by
measurement standards and corresponding indications with associated measurements
uncertainties and, second, uses this information to establish a relationship for obtaining a measurement result from an indication. [Clause 2.39; ISO/IEC Guide 99 (VIM)]
When the name ISO/IEC Guide 99 is used, this refers to the International Vocabulary of Metrology—Basic and General Concepts and Associated Terms (VIM; Vocabulaire International de Métrologie)
5
1.2 Specificity of Chemical Metrology
Chemical measurements performed in many fields are used for many crucial decisions
regarding, for example, safety and quality of life. The results of clinical measurements
are used by medical doctors to make decisions regarding the status of our health
and the possible need for medical treatment is worked out on the basis of those
results. Information on the composition of foodstuffs are important in respect to being
allowed in the marketplace, and ensuring food safety for consumers. In addition, those
are not the only areas in which chemical measurements are used; also important
are the anti-doping tests in sport, the quality control tests in production processes,
monitoring of the environment, and many others. Due to the need to carry out various
chemical measurements, namely as a consequence of the introduction of related legal
regulations (within European Union the recommendations stem from, among other
things, the requirements described in various directives, e.g., the Water Framework
Directive), the number of testing labs that carry out such measurements and the
number of people employed has been increasing exponentially in recent years. Hence
there is a need to establish and implement common principles of measurements
conducted in testing laboratories, in order to ensure the credibility of the results of
measurements. The international standard ISO/IEC 17025, ‘General Requirements
for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories,’ requiring validation of
the measuring procedure, highlighted the uncertainty of the result obtained with the
use of the procedure and the ensuring of measurement traceability were highlighted.
Those three parameters: validation, uncertainty and traceability are considered to be a
pre-requirement for obtaining sound results, hence their relationship with metrology
and its principles are closely linked.
What exactly is chemical metrology and what is its position in metrology? It is the
metrology principle used for the evaluation of chemical properties of given objects
by chemists in the analytical laboratory so as to perform measurements, aiming to
determine the qualitative and quantitative composition of samples.
1.2.1 Calibration of a Measuring Tool
Before discussing the specifics of chemical measurement, it is worth referring to the
term used in the context of measurement traceability:, i.e. ‘calibration.’
Calibration: the operation that, under specific conditions, first establishes a relationship between the quantity values with measurements uncertainties provided by
measurement standards and corresponding indications with associated measurements
uncertainties and, second, uses this information to establish a relationship for obtaining a measurement result from an indication. [Clause 2.39; ISO/IEC Guide 99 (VIM)]
When the name ISO/IEC Guide 99 is used, this refers to the International Vocabulary of Metrology—Basic and General Concepts and Associated Terms (VIM; Vocabulaire International de Métrologie)