Some aspects of the evaluation of measurement uncertainty using reference materials

Abstract

In practice there are three aspects that need to be considered in order to achieve the required traceability according to its definition: the 'stated reference', the 'unbroken chain of calibrations' and the "stated uncertainty". For a certain chemical result, each of these aspects highly depends on the measurement uncertainty, both on its magnitude and how it was estimated. Therefore, the paper describes the experience of the Romanian National Institute of Metrology in estimating measurement uncertainty during the certification of reference materials (RMs), in metrological activities (calibration, pattern approval, periodical verification, etc.), as well as during the analytical measurement process. Practical examples of estimation of measurement uncertainty using RMs or certified reference materials are discussed for their applicability in spectrophotometric and turbidimetric analysis. Use of the analysis of variance to obtain some additional information on the components of measurement uncertainty and to identify the magnitude of individual random effects is described.