QA / QC when using luminescent bacteria
Introduction:
Bioassays (biological effect measurements) are increasingly being incorporated into national and international environmental monitoring programmes to supplement chemical measurements. The QA / QC program is organised to give information to develop testing protocols and verify the performance of these innovative technologies that have the potential to improve protection of human health and the environment.
One of the requirements of the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR) is to establish a European infrastructure for biological effects. Therefore Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA / QC) is getting more and more important in order that laboratories contributing to national and international monitoring programmes, can attain defined quality standards.
The luminescent bioassay:
Since early 90s the Microtox bioassay using luminescent bacteria has been established as a regulatory tool for wastewater control in several countries, and has been standardized since 1998 (ISO 11348:1998). Laboratories pursuing an accreditation through ISO 17025, are always required to demonstrate the existence of an internal Quality Control Program. One of the options to fulfil this requirement is the participation in interlaboratory comparison round robins, (ISO-EIC guide 43:1997) which would allow each participant to check their competence against other laboratories performing similar assays.
Goals of the QA / QC program:
Our main objective with this QA / QC program is to help to develop and support an infrastructure for assessing the comparability of data from individual laboratories using luminescence bacteria bioassays and to demonstrate that biological effects analyses are under statistical control and are of known quality.
Together with our partners we would like to achieve the following goals:
- Produce an agreed set of protocols for the bioluminescent bioassay method and through this get a better knowledge on the capabilities and limitations of this bioassay.
- Determination of the variability expected when several laboratories perform the assay on the same samples and obtain conformity on acceptable limits of variation.
- Develop a system for monitoring the output of Participating Laboratories and assessing their compliance with appropriate quality standards.
- Study of the sensitivity in front of different chemical substances.
- Show that this technique can be considered robust enough to be used more widely in monitoring programmes.
The QA / QC program will offer you the following:
- Training workshops
- Intercalibration exercises: participants will receive relevant reference material, protocols and data sheets and will be asked to conduct the bioassay and report the results within a specified time scale.
- Production of reports: reports will be produced summarising the results of the intercalibration exercise.
- Workshops: organise workshops as a forum for luminescent bacteria toxicity assay users for discussions regarding experiences regarding the assay itself, its uses, applications, regulatory concerns, problems with methodology, sharing of scientific/technical knowledge.
The following QA / QC programs are offered.
Inter-Laboratory Comparison Exercise for the Luminescent Bacteria Toxicity assay.
Since 1993, there has been a Spanish yearly Interlaboratory Comparison Exercise of the bacterial luminescence toxicity assay.
From the very beginning, the goal of these Inter-laboratory comparison Exercises has been:
- To gain a better knowledge on the capabilities and limitations of this bioassay.
- Study of the sensitivity in front of different chemical substances.
- Determination of the variability expected when several laboratories performed the assay on the same samples.
More information about the back-ground of this Inter-Laboratory program can be found here:
- Repeatability and reproducibility of luminescent bacteria bioassay.
- Quality assurance of bacterial luminescence assay.
The initial goal was to create a forum where luminescent bacteria toxicity assay users could share experiences regarding the assay itself, its uses, applications, regulatory concerns, etc. The QA/QC program is now extended to laboratories performing the luminescent bacteria toxicity assay either as a routine test, or as a research tool, in the Benelux.
For more information click here.
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