title: Quality assurance in weighing.
abstract: Weighing is the most used step in any analytical procedure, and the balance is the one essential piece of laboratory equipment in all analyses. Yet weighing is a common source of error in final analytical results and can be difficult to detect. Analysts may become complacent and expect all weighings to be accurate. Our laboratory experienced a problem in weighing and found that the principal error was due to drift. The ensuing investigation into the cause led to a procedure for reducing drift, which, in turn, ensured accurate weighings that have improved quality assurance in our total operations.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Division of Drug Analysis, St. Louis, MO 63101-2045, USA.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kenyon
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Layloff
mesh_terms: D002138:Calibration; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011786:Quality Control; D014894:Weights and Measures / Q000592:standards*