Eurachem/CITAC guide on assessing the performance and uncertainty in qualitative chemical analysis

Eurachem, together with CITAC, have published a guide on how to assess and report the performance of qualitative analyses. This guide describes some of the tools that can be used to check if qualitative analyses have fit for purpose uncertainty. The limitations of some approaches for quantifying performance are discussed. The quantification of false results rates of selective analytical methods can require an unfeasible number of experimental tests. For analysis based on an instrumental method of analysis, models of the instrumental signal can be used to simulate false results rates. The guide includes six examples of the quantification of qualitative analysis uncertainty.

Link to the guide: https://www.eurachem.org/index.php/publications/guides/performance-and-uncertainty-in-qualitative-analysis

I believe this guide can contribute to improvements in the quality of the reporting and interpretation of qualitative analysis results in several analytical fields.

Ricardo Silva