Every laboratory that analyzes environmental water and wastewater samples for radionuclides should operate under a quality system, which establishes the basis for all of the laboratory’s quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) activities. The quality system sets forth requirements for the laboratory’s organizational framework, the structure and contents of its quality manual, document controls, method validation, QC of measurement processes, internal audits, documentation, and completed-record archives. Quality system standards commonly implemented at laboratories include Quality Systems for Radiochemical Testing (Volume 1, Module 6 of The TNI Standard)1 and General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories2 (ISO/IEC 17025). The Manual for the Certification of Laboratories Analyzing Drinking Water—Criteria and Procedures, Quality Assurance3 addresses QA/QC requirements established by the US EPA for Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) compliance testing.
The laboratory’s quality manual includes the laboratory’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) by reference. It addresses default QC measures applicable to instrument calibration and performance checks, background measurements, and batch QCs for precision and bias (accuracy) of analytical measurements. Also essential is a manual of analytical methods (or at least copies of approved methods).
Analysts are trained in accordance with the quality manual to ensure that they are familiar with its contents and requirements. The quality manual must be readily accessible to them as they work in the laboratory.