2002 MDL Survey
CAEAL continually improves its program delivery by responding to suggestions from member labs. One such suggestion was to update CAEAL PT concentration ranges to values more comparable with routine client samples. The CAEAL Program Committee reviewed the current PT offerings in the light of a survey recently sent to the CAEAL membership asking about Method Detection Limits (MDL's), significant digits typically reported to clients and typical concentration ranges of client samples.
Survey results are summarized in the following three graphical reports showing member responses. Note that the X-axis often uses a logarithmic scale to highlight wide concentration ranges.
- MDL Report (.pdf) (including the lowest historical PT sample and the Ontario Drinking Water MAC/IMAC) - the median MDL in red, the low CAEAL PT sample in green, the MAC/IMAC in yellow
- High Range Report (.pdf) (including the highest historical PT sample and the Ontario MAC/IMAC) - the median highest-reported client sample in red, the high CAEAL PT sample in green, the MAC/IMAC in yellow
- Significant Digit Report (.pdf)
As a result of these reports, we decided to modify the concentration ranges of several parameters, for example:
- Turbidity range decreased for October 2002 study
- Uranium range increased for October 2002 study
- PAH: B(a)P will be gradually decreased over time
We are happy to provide these survey reports for the information of CAEAL members. We thank all member laboratories that responded to this survey.
Sincerely,
Debbie Macey,
CAEAL Proficiency Testing Manager
Email: dmacey@cala.ca