Chemical measurements in the Baltic Sea: guidelines on quality assurance

Abstract

This document provides an introduction to quality issues, in general, and quality assurance in Baltic marine monitoring laboratories, in particular. The guidelines are intended to assist laboratories in starting up and operating their quality assurance systems. For laboratories with existing quality systems, the guidelines may give inspiration for issues that can be improved. The guidelines contain information for all levels of staff in the marine laboratory. Sections 1, 2, 3, and 6 together with Annexes B-1 (Quality manual) and B-3 (Quality audit) give guidance on organizational technical quality assurance principles that are relevant to administrative managers. Sections 1, 2, 5, and 6 with Annexes B-1 (Quality manual), B-6 (Reference materials), and B-3 (Quality audit), regarding the implementation and operation of a quality system, are the main sections of relevance for quality managers. For technical managers, all sections in the main part of the document are relevant. The guidelines provide technical managers with a description of the principles concerning how to introduce and maintain the technical aspects of quality assurance. It is believed that analysts will find all of the guidelines and annexes relevant regarding optimization of their analytical work. The applicability of the various annexes and, where applicable, their associated appendices, will, however, depend on the specific job description of each analyst. It is the intention of the guidelines that other members of the laboratory staff can find use for specific parts of the guidelines, e.g., Annex B-5 (Sampling), which contains principles in relation to sampling procedures and documentation. These guidelines have been prepared by the ICES/HELCOM Steering Group on Quality Assurance of Chemical Measurements in the Baltic Sea (SGQAC)1 for use in association with the HELCOM Cooperative Monitoring in the Baltic Marine Environment (COMBINE) Programme, and the former Baltic Monitoring Programme. These QA guidelines have been 1 This document benefited from the contribution of several members of SGQAC, principally: Horst Gaul, Michael Gluschke, Uwe Harms, Sigfried Kreuger, Mikael Krysell, Elzbieta Lysiak- Pastuszak, Jill Merry, Ana-Liisa Pikkorainen, Christa Pohl, Elisabeth Sahlsten, Norbert Theobald, Peter Woitke, Jerzy Woron. II. Incorporated in the COMBINE Manual as Part B. Accordingly, in that manual, the section numbers of the main body of the guidelines have been prefixed by the letter B, which has not been carried over into this publication of the guidelines. The designation of the annexes with the letter B has, however, been used here.