Calibration, Verification, and QA/QC63Having discussed what constitutes GLP in terms of QA and QC, let us introduce the very important and not to be neglected �people factor� in all of this. 11. HOW IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING LAB ORGANIZEDLaboratories are comprised of people in a workplace using sophisticated technology to generate and report analytical data to clients who have a need for the data. Clearly, people function most effectively under an organization in which each individual knows just what is expected of him or her. Figure 2.8 is a wchart that depicts the organization of a typical environmental testing laboratory. An individual analyst might work within a lab section that is devoted to the analysis of solid waste samples for the determination of trace levels of semivolatile organics and report to a section manager or supervisor who has had 5 or more years experience in this specialty. A secondary line of responsibility represented by the dashes in Figure 2.8 refers to the QA coordinator role in guaranteeing that the lab has adopted a QA plan. For example, our individual analyst may have to report some QC data to the QA coordinator from time to time. The chart in Figure 2.8 facilitates QA and offers the hope that a high level of quality in obtaining analytical data can be maintained. A client can then easily recognize which of two labs, hypothetical Lab X or hypothetical Lab Y, should be offered the contract for environmental monitoring of, perhaps, a hazardous waste site. 12. WHICH LAB WOULD YOU CHOOSELet us suppose that you are a representative working for an environmental consulting m and you are asked to choose which company, Lab X or Lab Y, should be hired to analyze your contaminated soil samples from this hypothetical hazardous waste site. Let us also assume that the samples come from a Superfund site and that you are interested in the lab providing you with analytical results and interpretation for semivolatile organics using EPA Method 8270C. You receive analytical results from Lab X, and from Lab Y as shown in Table 2.2. Based on your interpretation of the reports from both companies, which lab would you choose to contract with for the analysis It should be obvious! Lab X lacks any evidence of QC. Although the lab reported concentration levels of three semivolatile organics in ppb (parts per billion), no statement about the precision of the analysis is provided. No correlation coefient is provided. The lab efiency in extracting the analytes of
