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APPENDIX B
Glassary
Acceptance Criteria
- Specified limits placed on characteristics of an item, process, or service defined in
requirements documents.
Accuracy
- A measure of the closeness of an individual measurement or the average of a number of
measurements to the true value. Accuracy includes a combination of random error (precision) and
systematic error (bias) components that are due to sampling and analytical operations.
Analyte
- A specific chemical that can be detected by a given analytical method.
Assessment
- The evaluation process used to measure the performance or effectiveness of a system and
its elements. As used by MERC, assessment is an all-inclusive term used to denote any of the following:
audit, performance evaluation (PE), management systems review (MSR), peer review, inspection, or
surveillance.
Audit (quality)
- A systematic and independent examination to determine whether quality activities and
related results comply with planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented
effectively and are suitable to achieve objectives.
Audit of Data Quality (ADQ)
- A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of a set of data after it has been
collected and 100% verified by project personnel; consisting of tracing at least 10% of the test data from
original recording through transferring, calculating, summarizing and reporting to verify that the resulting
data are of acceptable quality
.
Bias
- The systematic or persistent distortion of a measurement process, which causes errors in one
direction (i.e., the expected sample measurement is different from the sample’s true value).
Blank
- A sample subjected to the usual analytical or measurement process to establish a zero baseline or
background value. Sometimes used to adjust or correct routine analytical results. A sample that is
intended to contain none of the analytes of interest. A blank is used to detect contamination during sample
handling preparation and/or analysis. There are many types of blanks, each with a specific purpose
including:
Equipment Blanks
- Monitor for potential contamination from
decontamination procedures of field gear or from other sources of
equipment contamination.
Field Blank
- A blank used to provide information about contaminants that
may be introduced during sample collection, storage, and transport. A clean
sample, carried to the sampling site, exposed to sampling conditions,
returned to the laboratory, and treated as an environmental sample.
Laboratory Blanks
- Samples that are used to identify potential sources of
contamination that are generated during the processing and analysis of
samples in the laboratory.