Chris Burgess and John Hammond respond to Peter Jenks' thoughts in the last issue's Quality Matters Column. Please join in the debate and add your comments at the end of the article.

The reasoning behind strict compliance to an ISO Standard is logical, but the consequences can be commercially questionable, if not unsound. Peter Jenks, and many other scientists, are starting to question the commercial viability of all this regulation. What is your opinion?

Peter Jenks is concerned at the lack of mutual help available on the Internet within the field of analytical chemistry. Other fields, outside science, have strong communities where enthusiasts give freely of their advice and time; why not in analytical chemistry? Please tell us your views by adding a comment to this column article.

Sigma-Aldrich has acquired the assets of Resource Technology Corporation (RTC) of Laramie, Wyoming, USA, manufacturer of analytical standards and certified reference materials. The acquisition of RTC's business complements Sigma-Aldrich's recently completed acquisition of Cerilliant.

LG Standards is offering Ultra Scientific's Ultragold, a new line of ISO Guide 34 CRMs which fulfil the need for CRMs at convenient concentrations of 1000 ppm and 10 ppm as well as incorporation REACH labelling into its products. ISO Guide 34 requires an extensive protocol of homogeneity, short term stability, long term stability, quality control and statistical analysis and the ISO Guide 34 CRMs meet this need.

NIST has developed new standard reference materials for measuring amounts of organic acids in dietary supplements formulated with Vaccinium berries—cranberries, blueberries and bilberries. The new references are SRM 3281, cranberry (fruit); SRM 3282, low calorie cranberry juice cocktail; SRM 3283 cranberry extract; SRM 3284, cranberry-containing solid oral dosage form; SRM 3285, mixed berry-containing solid oral dosage form; SRM 3287, blueberry (fruit); SRM 3291, bilberry extract.

The first group of graduates of a new European Master's degree received their diplomas at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Geel, Belgium. The degree, “Measurement Science in Chemistry”, was based on training initiatives developed by the JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM).

NLG Analytical has announced the release of its latest v-kit qualification system for LC-MS systems, suitable for single and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers. The package consists of software-driven protocols, standard operating procedures and traceable reference standards. Written on the v-kit Pro platform, the software features report creation, summary reporting and audit trail and user/manager access rights. The electronic logbook function allows the data from the entire qualification exercise to be quickly and easily assembled into a single document for storage or distribution. The kits can be provided for qualification by the user or as part of service delivery by approved v-kit service partners.

The 33rd meeting of the Reference Material Committee of ISO, ISO/REMCO was held in Hangzhou (China) from 3 to 7 May 2010, and was hosted by the Standardisation Administration of China and the China Association of Standardisation. ISO/REMCO now has a membership of 70 members of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and liaison with 18 international organisations and seven ISO-internal committees. The new ISO TC liaison introduced at this meeting is with ISO/TC 158 “Analysis of gases”, with Dr Adriaan van der Veen acting as the REMCO liaison officer.

Starna Scientific’s Calibration and Reference Material manufacturing laboratory has extended its range of certified reference materials, providing a comprehensive range of UV/visible/NIR materials currently available under the scope of ISO Guide 34 + ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for Reference Material producers.

ISO Standard ISO 17025 is the cornerstone of the “Measured Once, Trusted Everywhere” concept and the accreditation of labs and testing establishment to ISO 17025 by accreditation bodies underpins the credibility. ISO 17025 is all about facilitating the free movement of goods and services and so helps to eliminate monopolies, cartels and all sorts of anti-competitive activities.

Peter Jenksthe Jenks Partnership, Newhaven House, Junction Road, Alderbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 3AZ, UK

ISO 17025 has been with us now for 12 years and in some industry sectors it is getting hard to find a commercial laboratory offering chemical testing that is not accredited to ISO 17025 for some or all of its scope. In just 12 short years the importance of “quality management” to a laboratory has undergone a seismic shift.

Starna Scientific offers a lifetime guarantee on all Starna manufactured CRMs.

LGC, formerly the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, who provide chemical and biological analytical services and reference materials, has been acquired with management by Bridgepoint from LGV Capital in a transaction that values the business at £257 million.

John HammondStarna Scientific Ltd, 52–54 Fowler Road, Hainault Business Park, Hainault, Essex, IG6 3UT, UK

The Irish writer George Bernard Shaw once said: “England and America are two countries divided by a common language”. Whilst this statement generally refers to the over 4000 words in everyday use in the United States that are not in British English, in the scientific world “is it metre or meter”, or for spectroscopists, nanometre or nanometer?

However, irrespective of that debate, whatever the spelling, terms such as these have associated definitions, found in various reference texts, such as dictionaries, vocabularies or databases, and if we cannot agree on the spelling, what chance of achieving consistency in definition?

Fortunately, help is at hand, and it is the recent introduction of a “Concept Database” by ISO which has prompted this article.

Detailed below are just a few of the “databases” now available, and examination of the term “Resolution” is used as an example of each.

Starna Scientific has introduced an updated customer feedback system to assist compliance with ISO 17025:2005 guidelines. www.starna.com

Peter Jenksthe Jenks Partnership, Newhaven House, Junction Road, Alderbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 3AZ, UK

The 12th Biological and Environmental Reference Material symposium (BERM 12) is now over: held at Keble College, Oxford, UK, from 7 to 10 July 2009 it was, based on the feedback received, a resounding success, both scientifically and socially. The weather was perfect and the setting magnificent.

Before looking at the UK Meeting highlights it is important to put BERM into context: it is the original Symposium looking at Biological and Environmental Reference Materials. The first meeting, then known as “BRM” was organised by Dr Wayne Wolf and held in Philadelphia, USA, in September 1983: 26 years ago! Then 25 people shared 16 presentations. Indeed, back then the idea of the application of sound chemical metrology principles to biological matrices was somewhat novel.

Starna Scientific is offering pharmaceutical quality assurance laboratories a safe-to-handle toluene/methanol CRM for validating instrument resolution with derivative spectrophotometry analysis methods. The easy-to-use CRM offers safety benefits for users because the methanol is permanently heat-fuse sealed, ensuring that laboratory users no longer need to handle the volatile, flammable, toxic solvent. The CRM is suitable for pharmaceutical QA laboratories using derivative spectrophotometry procedures to validate instrument resolution following the guidelines specified in section 2.2.25 of the European Pharmacopoeia.

Starna Scientific Issue: 21/05 RSN: 108 More information via