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Trends in the development of proficiency testing for chemical analysis: focus on food and environmental matrices

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Abstract

The importance of quality in analytical chemistry stimulates the development of different tools to assure the reliability of analytical results. Among different tools, proficiency testing (PT) stands out because it can be used to evaluate bias, check uncertainty, train analysts, or certify if a laboratory can execute a method adequately and provide correct results. There is a growing demand for traceable and reliable results in analytical chemistry, which can be illustrated with the growth of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and the importance of PT in this context. This has led to an increase in developments and publications about PT programs. This paper reports a detailed review considering the best practices to develop PT for chemical analysis, focusing on food and environmental matrices. An evaluation of the trends and the statistical strategies in its development in the last two years was performed to guide new developments of this tool that is increasingly necessary for laboratories.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support from the São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP, 2020/01238-4, 2018/26145-9) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CNPq, grant 308178/2018-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Institute of São Carlos (IQSC-USP), University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São-carlense, 400 CP 780, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13560-970, Brazil

    Igor Renato Bertoni Olivares, Vitor Hugo Polisél Pacces, Pamela Aparecida Grizotto, Paula Souza da Silva Gomes Lima & Rhaissa Mecca Bontempi

  2. Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, Rodovia Washington Luiz, km 234, CP 339, São Carlos, SP, CEP 13560-970, Brazil

    Gilberto Batista de Souza & Ana Rita de Araujo Nogueira

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  1. Igor Renato Bertoni Olivares
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Correspondence to Igor Renato Bertoni Olivares.

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Olivares, I.R.B., de Souza, G.B., de Araujo Nogueira, A.R. et al. Trends in the development of proficiency testing for chemical analysis: focus on food and environmental matrices. Accred Qual Assur 27, 55–83 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-021-01487-3

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