Abstract
The IAEA conducted the IAEA-CU-2006-06 Proficiency Test (PT) on “The determination of major, minor and trace elements in ancient Chinese ceramic” in 2006. The results of this PT showed that of the 21 analytes reported by our laboratory 9 failed the precision criteria. Therefore the results reported by our laboratory along with the results of other laboratories which carried out analysis using neutron activation analysis (NAA) were studied. It was found that the major factor contributing towards data falling in the “Warning” category, failing the precision criteria was the high uncertainties cited in the certificates of the reference materials (RMs) used for quantification of data. In this regard, it is recommended that synthetic standards should be prepared and used on a routine basis especially for the measurement of the elements K, Eu, Lu, Ta, Tb and Yb.
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References
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge IAEA for conducting the PT. We also acknowledge the Reactor Operation Group at PINSTECH for their help in the irradiation of the samples. Technical assistance of Messrs. Lal Habib is also thankfully acknowledged.
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Siddique, N., Waheed, S. Evaluation of laboratory performance using proficiency test exercise results. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 291, 817–823 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1357-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1357-7