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Who’s who among radioactive analysts statistical and graphical analysis of variance in measurement accuracy across radioanalytical laboratories

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Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Radiochemistry Intercomparison Program [NRIP] has been assessing radioanalytical laboratory capabilities. This study evaluates performance with respect to 15 radionuclides, 24 laboratories, 5 matrices, and measurement “outliers” over a span of 10 years. Results indicated: (1) the data is best characterized using medians and treating “outliers” as part of non-normal distributions; (2) results among the factors of matrices and over 10 years were in good control, while the factors of radionuclides and laboratory showed larger variation in performance; (3) of all the radionuclides tested alpha-emitter analysis were in good control while beta-emitting 90Sr analysis showed the most variance; (4) laboratories that tended to be in control continued to demonstrate consistent performance while some lagging laboratories improved their performance after 2–3 years of experience in the program; (5) spiked urine and glass fiber filters showed the best results while spiked synthetic fecal and soil sample results were more problematic; and (6) there was little variation of unweighted median laboratory performance over the 10 years of testing. These results provides NRIP and the participating laboratories with much needed feedback to address problem areas that were uncovered, share advanced radioanalytical methods to improve lagging laboratory performance, and provide a platform for discussion of new radionuclides, matrices, interferences, and approaches for the pass/fail criteria and uncertainty reporting requirements to improve and expand the performance evaluation program.

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Acknowledgements

This publication is dedicated to the memory of Dr. James John Filliben, Sr. for his crucial statistical insights, contributions and encouragement towards this work and for pass collaborations. The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical contributions, insightful and patient comments and suggestions from Jerome LaRosa, Svetlana Nour, Matthew Mille, and Loleta Dixon. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the generous support provided by Marc Desrosiers, the NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. K&E Inn Ovations, Inc., 91-1329 Kuano’o Street, Ewa Beach, HI, 96706, USA

    Kenneth G. W. Inn

  2. Formerly National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA

    Kenneth G. W. Inn & Iisa Outola

  3. Formerly University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    Nateé Johnson

  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA

    James Filliben

  5. Currently Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Laippatie 4, 00880, Helsinki, Finland

    Iisa Outola

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  1. Kenneth G. W. Inn
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  2. Nateé Johnson
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  3. Iisa Outola
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  4. James Filliben
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Correspondence to Kenneth G. W. Inn.

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Inn, K.G.W., Johnson, N., Outola, I. et al. Who’s who among radioactive analysts statistical and graphical analysis of variance in measurement accuracy across radioanalytical laboratories. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 4929–4938 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08618-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08618-1

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