title: Quality control procedures for monitoring whole blood and plasma trace metal levels by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
abstract: Well co-ordinated quality control procedures are required to insure that trace metal results determined at ppb (micrograms kg-1 or micrograms l-1) levels by atomic absorption spectrophotometry are reliable. Control materials can be prepared "in-house" provided they are calibrated against standard reference materials (SRM). A mean +/- SD data base should be determined for each quality control material with daily results plotted on Levey-Jennings charts. Westgard's multi-rule quality control scheme is recommended for assessing analytical performance. Additional information may be obtained by using cumulative sum (cusum) charts to detect analytical drift from the mean, and standard deviation index or 'z-score' plot to show analytical bias. Proficiency or quality assurance programs should be used to supplement internal quality verification of analytical performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: F Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000592:standards*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014131:Trace Elements