Contents

Definitions/Acronyms

%D: Percent Difference.
%R: Percent Recovery.
AA: Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
Accuracy: The degree of agreement of a measured value with the true or expected value of the constituent of concern.
Analyst: The staff member who conducts a laboratory analysis or other measurement.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute.
Approval: Denotes agreement with the total action and acceptance of accountability for that action. Approval normally involves signing the document implementing the action.
AS: Analytical spike.
ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
ASR: Analytical Services Request form. A form used to document critical technical, quality, and administrative requirements and information related to requested work.
ASTM. 1982: Compilation of ASTM Standard Definitions, 5th Edition. Philadelphia, PA.
Average (mean): The sum of a series of measurements divided by the number of measurements.
BFB: Bromofluorobenzene.
Bias: A systematic error inherent in a method or caused by some artifact or idiosyncrasy of the measurement system.
BS: Blank Spike.
CCB: Continuing calibration blank.
CCV: Continuing calibration verification analytical standard periodically run to monitor instrument stability over time
CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
Certification: Process by which recognition is obtained from an appropriate party that a product meets certain specified requirements (ASTM 1982).
Certificate of test: Documentation attesting to the validity of the test performed.
CF: Calibration factor, typically referred to as the Response Factor (RF).
Client: The person, organization, or program from whom samples originate and to whom laboratory results are reported. This may be internal to the laboratory.
CLP: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Contract Laboratory Program.
Commercial software: Off-the-shelf computer software that is not modified by the user.
Concurrence: Denotes agreement with the proposed action, limited to the area of responsibility of the person concurring.
CVAA: Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
CWA: Clean Water Act.
Daily: Each 24-hour time period or the end of an analytical run for those analyses that extend past a 24-hour time period. Daily requirements do not apply on days the instrument is not in use.
DFTPP: Decafluorotriphenylphosphine.
DLR: Decision level count rate.
DOE: U.S. Department of Energy.
DQA: Data quality assessments.
DQO: Data Quality Objectives.
DQR: Data Quality Requirement.
EICP: Extracted ion current profile.
EQL: Estimated quantitation limit the lowest level that can be reliably achieved within specified limits of precision and accuracy during routine operating conditions.
ES&H: Environmental Safety and Health.
Expiration date: As applied to chemicals and standard materials, a date after which the material may no longer meet specifications.
FLAA: Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
GC: Gas Chromatography.
GC/MS: Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry.
GFAA: Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.
IC: Ion Chromatography.
ICB: Initial calibration blank.
ICN: Interim Change Notice a form for making an editorial correction or simple change to a procedure that provides for identifying, approving, and issuing the change within a short period of time.
ICP-MS: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry.
ICV: Initial calibration verification The process of verifying the adequacy of calibration.
IDL: Instrument detection limit the minimum concentration of a substance that can be measured and reported with 99% confidence that the analyte concentration is greater than zero. The IDL typically reflects the sensitivity of the analytical system exclusively.
ISE: Ion Selective Electrode.
LCS: Laboratory control sample a control sample of known composition which is analyzed using the same preparation, reagents, and analytical method employed for the sample.
LLS: Low level standard.
LTC: Laboratory Training Coordination a PNNL organization responsible for maintaining auditable training records and a comprehensive training data base for all PNNL staff training.
M&TE: Measuring and test equipment.
MD: Mean difference.
MDA: Minimum detectable activity level of activity that is practically achievable by a measurement system using a specified counting time.
MDC: Minimum detectable concentration the minimum detectable activity divided by additional experimental factors specific to the sample analyzed.
MDL: Method detection limit the minimum concentration of a substance that can be measured and reported with 99% confidence that the analyte concentration is greater than zero. The MDL typically reflects the sensitivity of the preparation and analytical process.
MS: Matrix spike.
MSA: Management system assessments.
MSD: Matrix spike duplicate.
NEI NIST: National Energy Institute National Institute of Standards and Technology.
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act.
PB: Preparation Blank.
PEA: Performance evaluation assessments.
PEM: Performance evaluation mixture.
PNNL: Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract DE AC06 76RLO 1830.
Precision: The degree of agreement of independent measurements of a given sample using repeated application of a process under specified conditions.
QA: Quality Assurance A system of activities whose purpose is to provide the producer or user of a product or service the assurance that is meets defined standards of quality. It consists of two separate but related activities, quality control, and quality assessment.
QC: Quality Control a planned system of activities whose purpose is to provide a measurement tool of the quality of a product or service to help ensure that it meets the needs of users. The aim is to provide quality that is satisfactory, adequate, dependable, and economic.
Quality Assessment: System of activities whose purpose is to provide assurance that quality control activities are done effectively. It involves a continuing evaluation of performance of the production system and the quality of products produced.
RCRA: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Reference Material: A material of definite composition that closely resembles, in chemical and physical nature, the material the analyst expects to deal with.
Result: The final quantity (e.g., amount, concentration) obtained from an analysis and reported to the client.
RIDS: Records Inventory and Disposition Schedule/File Index a form used to identify records maintained by file stations that indicates the authorized retention and disposition instructions for those records and also serves as a file index.
RPD: Relative percent difference a mathematical equation that expresses the precision of duplicates.
RRF: Relative Response Factor.
RSD: Relative standard deviation or coefficient of variation.
Sample Custodian(s): A staff member who receives/handles samples. Project staff trained to this plan may serve as sample custodian.
SAP: Sampling and Analysis Plan.
Shall, Should, and May: Indicators of requirement, recommendation, or permission.
Shall: indicates a requirement that must always be met.
Should: indicates a recommendation but recognizes that exceptions are possible.
May: indicates permission without a recommendation for or against the action.
Signature: Handwritten signature.
SOW: Statement of Work. A document that describes the scope of work for an activity or project. A technical project plan or equivalent work-authorizing document may be also used.
Standard Deviation: (represented by the variable s) A measure of the distribution of a series of replicate measurements around the average of that series.
Standard Material: A material of known composition, confirmed by the preparer.
SW 846: EPA Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste.
TC: Total Carbon.
Technical Procedure: Procedures that describe the technical nature of work performed (e.g., preparative and analytical processes). Technical procedures are qualified prior to use on client samples.
Test Plans: Test plans are used when no procedure currently exists which can adequately meet the client DQRs. Test plans provide documentation of the approach that will be taken. The approach is qualified during the execution of the work (no qualification data already exists).
TIC: Total Inorganic Carbon. Specifically in the case of organic GCMS, TIC denotes Tentatively Identified Compounds.
TOC: Total Organic Carbon.
Tri-Party Agreement: Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order.
TSA: Technical system assessments.
USEPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.