Accred Qual Assur (2001) 6 : 2

Q Springer-Verlag 2001

A. Zschunke

About fifty percent of all measurements in the world are chemical

measurements. Therefore analytical
chemistry is the practical base of
metrology. On the other hand, reliability and accuracy are traditional values in analytical chemistry,
especially in Germany. Consequently, is metrology also the base
of analytical chemistry? The fateful
couple chemistry and metrology
was the subject of a joint symposium on quality assurance in chemical measurement hosted by the
German Chemical Society (GDCh)
and EURACHEM-Germany. Current developments of metrology in
chemistry were reviewed by six
representative specialists.
In 1999 the member states of
the meter convention signed the
Mutual Recognition Arrangement
of Test and Calibration Certificates in Paris. This arrangement
establishes the degree of equivalence of chemical measurements at
National Metrology Institutes.
G. Dube (Physikalisch-technische Bundesanstalt PTB) summerized the international activities

A. Zschunke
Bundesanstalt fr Materialforschung und
-prfung, Zweigstelle Berlin-Adlershof,
Rudower Chaussee 5, 12489 Berlin,
Germany
e-mail: adolf.zschunke6bam.de
Tel.: c49306392 5800
Fax: c49306392 5787

EDITORIAL

Metrology in Chemistry
ANALYTICA Munich, Germany,
12 March 2000

of the Consultative Committee on

Amount of Substance (CCQM) as
well as the Co-operation on International Traceability in Analytical
Chemistry (CITAC), and also gave
some examples of establishment of
traceability chains in Germany.
Since the beginning of this year,
accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories has been based
on the new technical standard
ISO 17025. In his discourse R.
Fischbach (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle Chemie DACH) gave
an assessment of the metrological
demands on chemical analytical laboratories: ISO 17025 takes account of the increasing importance
of metrology in global trade.
F. Adams (Universiteit Antwerpen) warned against a simplified transfer of metrological concepts from physical measurements to chemical measurements. He demonstrated some
difficulties when introducing the
concept of traceability into the
analytical chemists community. A
critical review of metrology in
chemistry was given by R.A.
Schmidt (Bayer AG). He pointed
out that metrology is sufficiently
established in the chemical industry. However other aspects of quality assurance, e.g. traceability to
customers needs should be more
developed.
In a systematical approach, R.
Dybkaer (Copenhagen Hospital

Cooperation) gave a critical evaluation of existing standards in Laboratory Medicine and gave some
consideration to the metrological
needs resulting from the EU Directive on in vitro diagnostics. W.
Bremser (Bundesanstalt fr Materialforschung und-prfung BAM)
discussed the problems of complex
uncertainty budgets and the advantages and limits of analytical traceability networks.
The symposium only covered a
selection of recent topics of Metrology in Chemistry. However, it initiated a lively and stimulating discussion that showed that the subject raises expectations for further
conferences in this field.