The Central Laboratories Unit Accredited Methods
The Central Laboratories unit (QUCLU) caters to the analysis needs of the Qatar University (QU) scientific community. QUCLU is working continuously on optimizing its performance to meet the criteria of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and maintain its accreditation with the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), which was first achieved in the year 2010. Since then, more methods have been added to the list of accreditations renewed during subsequent audits. Efforts are on to add at least one more method to accreditation.
The main objectives of the QUCLU are the research and chemical analysis conducting services for clients, so the client’s satisfaction is the great target. This satisfaction cannot be obtained without the client’s full trust in our methods and results. In QUCLU hundreds of samples are tested by using the accredited methods and a huge amount of data is generated for environmental and industrial research programs and research projects. Since accreditation of any method is to serve the following purposes:
- The method used for analysis is fit for the testing purpose.
- The accuracy is high and the data generated is more reliable.
As the confidence level of clients is high in data generated by accredited methods, therefore more business can be attracted by using accredited methods. In many countries around the world, the results of environmental samples tested by non-accredited methods are not acceptable to Regulatory Authorities. We can summarize QUCLU accredited methods ISO/IEC 17025:2017 as following:
1- Quantitative Analysis by EDS (ASTM E1508):
1.1. The EDS Analysis Applications:
- Product reformulation and competitor analysis
- Adhesion, bonding, delamination investigations
- Optical appearance, haze and color problems
- Disputed claim investigations and expert witness
- Failure investigations, identification of the cause
- Catalyst quality, poisoning, and elemental distribution
- Product imperfections and defect analysis
- Contamination detection, isolations, and identification
- Quality control, raw material, and the end product
- Filler, pigment, fiber, additive distribution, orientation
- Assessment of plant particulate emissions
- Construction and maintenance monitoring (asbestos)
2- Analysis of Minerals and Trace Metals in Water Using ICP-MS (US EPA 200.8)
- One of the largest volumes uses for ICP-MS is in the water and wastewater treatment measurements, medical and forensic field, specifically, toxicology.
- ICP-MS is also used widely in the geochemistry field for radiometric dating, in which it is used to analyze the relative abundance of different isotopes.
- In the pharmaceutical industry, ICP-MS is used for detecting inorganic impurities in pharmaceuticals and their ingredients.
- The main applications are metal and semi-metal analysis in deionized water, chemicals, and on the wafer surface.
- The fields of applications include Environmental – Foods – Semiconductor – Clinical – Chemical/Petrochemical – Pharmaceutical – Consumer Goods – Forensic – Geological – Nuclear – Academic/Research
3- Determination of Sodium & Potassium in Water by Ion Chromatography (ASTM D 6919)
3.1. The Ion Chromatography Applications:
- Pharmaceutical (determination of the purity of medical mixing, control drug production, and determination of their content of selected substances).
- Semiconductor production (determination of trace amounts of ions in the water of high purity and preparations for the manufacture of semiconductors; testing of organic solvents purity; determination of trace pollutants in indoor production rooms).
- Cement (determination of metals in cement).
- Chemical (analysis of chemicals purity; determination of metals in fertilizers, process control).
- Energetic (the determination of impurities in cooling water containing amines used to prevent corrosion of the turbines and power plants installation; determination of radioactive elements in the waste from nuclear power plants).
- Petrochemical (determination of amines, polyphosphates, cyanides, mineral acids, and sulfur ions in solutions to absorb gaseous pollutants).
- Metallurgical (analysis of steel and other alloys composition; studies of metal ions in the effluents).
- Paper (analysis of sulfur, chlorine, alkaline metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals in wastewaters; process control).
- Electrochemical and tanning (determination of heavy metals and cyanide polyphosphates in electroplating waste; determination of chromium and its compounds in tannery wastes).
- Ion chromatography (IC) has proven to be an effective technology for final product testing and environmental monitoring applications in the polymer industry.
- The list of ISO 17025 accredited method in QU labs was updated and posted on the VPRGS website:
http://www.qu.edu.qa/research/research-resources/research-excellence/quality-and-certification/list-of-accredited-methods
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