Accred Qual Assur (2000) 5 : 307
Q Springer-Verlag 2000
Paul De Bivre
Reference materials are common
in the measurement world. They
are (said to be) used in calibra-
tion, validation, correction, pare a value to another value. Not
conversion and other processes.
Reference materials are arte-
facts, i.e. man-made materials.
The best known of these artefacts
are the weights which were used in
pre-electronic balances.
Measure a reference material and
you are all right
The time has come to examine the
role of a reference material in the
measurement process a little closer.
The trigger for this is the advent of
international discussions on the
concept of traceability.
The easy way to establish tra-
ceability follows the simple rea-
soning: I measured a reference ma-
terial together with my unknown
sample, therefore I am traceable.
Just a moment
A closer examination of the defini-
tion of traceability teaches us
that it is the property of the value
of a measurement result not of
an artefact and that it must be
related by an unbroken chain of
comparisons to an agreed interna-
tional standard. So what is a com-
parison? A comparison is the act
of comparing one value to another
in order to determine whether it is
equal to, smaller than, or larger
EDITORIAL
When we purchase a reference
material, what do we buy?
than, the value to which one com-
pares.
This makes sense: one can com-
ue which has been purchased, hid-
to a material or a method but to a
value carried by that material, pro-
duced by that method. In fact such
a comparison is a measurement.
This is helpful because the defi-
nition of traceability explicitly re-
quires an unbroken chain of com-
parisons, i.e. of measurements.
It makes sense
This unbroken chain must end in
the value of a standard. Keeping
in mind that the name standard
was used to indicate prototypes of
the kilogram and meter, etc., ob-
viously the value of these standards
was referred to: the value of the
prototype of the kilogram is 1, the
value of the prototype of the meter
was also 1 (until it was defined dif-
ferently and related to the value of
the speed of light).
The value is important,
not the artefact
What is central to the concept of a
reference standard is the value of
the standard or the value carried
by a reference material.
Thus our traceability problem
can be solved quite simply: we
compare in one measurement
the unknown value in our sample
to a known value in a reference
material, thus making it tracea-
ble to it. This reduces the task to
a single measurement against a val-
den in a reference material as it
were. What is important, is the val-
ue carried by the reference materi-
al. In fact, that is what the user is
paying for.
Even the uncertainty assessment
of the measurement of an un-
known sample is now simple: the
overall uncertainty is the sum of
the uncertainty of the analysts
measurement combined with the
uncertainty of the value carried be
the reference material. The uncer-
tainty of the value carried by the
reference material, is another thing
the user needs and is paying for,
and for which the producer is re-
sponsible.
Reference material producers
should also indicate to which
stated value their certified value
is related. They should also supp-
ly a reliable uncertainty statement
with their value.
Paul De Bivre
Editor-in-Chief
Readers are invited to send their
comments to the Managing Editor.