Calibration

Air Monitoring Methods, Conceptual Topics – Translation of the German version from 2016

  Ralph Hebisch¹ (Head of the working group “Air Analyses” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Michael Ball
Dietmar Breuer²
Petra Heckmann²
Wilhelm Krämer³
Claus‐Peter Maschmeier⁴
Gerda Nitz⁵
Wolfgang Riepe⁶
Claudia Schuh⁷
  Thomas Helmut Brock⁸ (Head of the working group "Analytics")
  Andrea Hartwig⁹ (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
  MAK Commission<sup>10

1</sup> Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1–25, 44149 Dortmund, Germany
² Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany
³ BASF SE, ESE/MA – Z 570, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
⁴ State Office for Consumer Protection Saxony‐Anhalt, Künauer Straße 70, 06846 Dessau‐Roßlau, Germany
⁵ Technical University Munich, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan (WZW), Hohenbachernstraße 17, 85354 Freising, Germany
⁶ Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Department of Molecular Biology, Hellbrunner Straße 34, A‐5020 Salzburg, Austria
⁷ Institution for the foodstuffs industry and the catering trade (BGN), Dynamostraße 7–11, 68165 Mannheim, Germany
⁸ German Social Accident Insurance, Institution for the raw materials and chemical industry, Prevention - Department of Hazardous Substances, Biological Agents and Analytical Chemistry, Kurfürsten-Anlage 62, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
⁹ Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
¹⁰ Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany

Workplace measurements are intended to give information about kind and extent of workers' exposure during their activities with hazardous substances. For this purpose calibration is necessary to establish the relationship between a known concentration and the corresponding measuring signal resulting in reliable measuring results at a high level of quality. Therefore, calibration strongly influences accuracy and precision of the whole measuring procedure. Calibration is required for different tasks. During development of a measurement procedure the calibration range has to be determined, for which there must be a linear relationship between the concentration of the analyte and the response of the analytical procedure. Important analytical parameters such as limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) may also be determined using calibration procedures. Normally, calibration is needed for the quantification of hazardous substances from workplace measurements. In this case the composition of calibration solutions should be as near as possible to that of the collected samples. The calibrated concentration range should yield unambiguous analytical results. Traceability of the complete calibration procedure from the measuring result back to the typically used (certified) reference material must be ensured. This chapter describes how to perform calibration for different purposes and the possible sources of errors which have to be considered. Requirements for reference materials are also specified.

Joint Publication of the Analytical Subcommittee of the Chemistry Board of Experts of the Expert Committee Raw Materials and Chemical Industry of the German Social Accident Insurance and the Working Group “Air Monitoring Methods” of the Permanent Senate Commission of the DFG for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area.

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