The Importance of Low Quantitation Limits for Compliance Measurements
On November 9th one of Brooks Applied Labs’ Technical Services staff, Ben Wozniak, spoke at the North American Metals Council – Selenium Working Group on the critical importance of quantitation limits (QLs) when performing analyses for regulatory compliance. Because of variation in how they are defined by regulatory agencies and how laboratories may establish acceptance limits at the QL, best practice is to ensure that the quantitation limit be no more than one-fifth the regulatory compliance level. For example, if a discharge limit is set at 1 µg/L, the laboratory should ideally achieve a quantitation limit of 0.2 µg/L or less in the sample matrix. Doing so will reduce uncertainty in the concentration as it approaches the regulatory limit, so industry and regulators can have greater confidence that any results above the compliance limit are representative and not simply due to method variability.
Brooks Applied Labs has been providing ng/L quantitation limits for Se and many other elements for decades, using advanced ICP-MS methods. We also offer innovative methods to meet the diverse needs of our clients, like quantifying total Se at the ng/L level in seawaters or organoselenium species at the ng/L level in treated effluents and receiving waters. Please contact us to learn more about how our services may be of assistance for your next project!