Inter-Laboratory Quality Control on Indoor Air Quality Analysis

• Activity Number: 195
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics and the Environment
• Author(s): Guang-Hwa Chang*+
• Companies: Youngstown State University
• Keywords: quality control ; inter-laboratory comparisons

Abstract

Counting airborne mold collected from standard spore trap method such as using Air-O-Cell cassettes is a common way of checking air quality. The protocol used by the American Industrial Hygiene Association for accrediting environmental laboratories that conduct analysis of spore trap samples focuses on a variety of quality assurance guidelines. Inter-laboratory quality assurance program, also called round robin slides exchange program, is among one of the guidelines for laboratory accreditation. In this study, the data analysis technique used by an inter-laboratory quality assurance program on airborne spore count data is examined. Issues related to the spore count estimation method are discussed. A method that uses adjusted limit of detection produced from the slides exchange program for calibrating the spore count estimation is suggested. Result from this study provides participating laboratories an opportunity to improve the accuracy of the laboratory report through the round robin slides exchange program.