A Computerized Quality Assurance Program for Quantitative Capillary Column Analyses

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A quality assurance program in an analytical laboratory certifies the quality of analytical data (1). In the author' application of such a program in a chromatography laboratory, calibration data are stored in a computer and reports art generated that show the current quality of a given analysis. The computer program statistically tests new calibration data against the mean of the five latest instrumental calibrations. Each new calibration must pass 99% confidence limits before it is accepted as a replacement for the oldest calibration on file. Once a new calibration is accepted, the calibration factors and standard deviations of the analysis are recalculated. This procedure maintains a data base of constant size in the computer file and because it contains the five most recent calibrations, reflects the current quality of the analysis. Although this quality assurance test was developed for routine capillary chromatography, it is applicable to any analysis that depends on detector responses. The chromatographer can access this program through the video display terminal to obtain typed lists of all calibrations that are currently valid for a specific chromatograph, or to obtain complete details of all five calibrations used to compute current calibration factors. The quality assurance program has improved the precision and accuracy of chromatographic analyses, for example, in the routine determination of specific-compound concentration in a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons. The standard deviation ranges from 0.01% at 1% concentration to about 0.1% at 50% concentration.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: