A New Approach to Demonstrating the Suitability of Analytical Techniques as Applied to Validation of Solid Phase Extraction as a Sample Preparation Technique

Oral Presentation

Prepared by S. Kassner1, T. Garber2, P. Bassignani3, D. Kennedy4, D. Friedman5
1 - Phenova, 6390 Joyce Drive, Suite 100, Golden, CO, 80403, United States
2 - Phenova, 6390 Joyce Drive, Suite 100, Golden, Colorado, 80403, United States
3 - Fluid Management Systems, 580 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA, 02472, United States
4 - Phenomenex, 411 Madrid Avenue, Torrance, CA, 90501-1430, United States
5 - David Friedman Consulting, LLC, 10817 Rippon Lodge Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22032-2931, United States


Contact Information: shawnk@phenova.com; 866-942-2978


ABSTRACT

Through the organizing efforts of the Independent Laboratory Institute (ILI), a broad coalition of the environmental monitoring community (e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency, the commercial analytical laboratory community, the developers and vendors of Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) technology, academia) worked together to develop a generic protocol for the use of SPE as a means of accurately and cost-effectively preparing aqueous samples for organic chemical analysis. The program represents a collaboration between industry, non-profit organizations, the EPA, and others to advance monitoring technology.

Given the large number and type of SPE products in the marketplace, the large variety of organic compounds for which the technology was expected to be suitable for, and the wide spectrum of aqueous matrices for which the technique was expected to be applied to, a novel approach to determining the validity of the protocol and technology was needed.

In this paper, the authors will discuss the approach that was adopted, the reasons and rationale behind the approach, review how the study was conducted, and the scope of SPE products evaluated. This presentation is designed to expand the dialogue on method validation within the monitoring community in order to help develop new validation approaches that can help speed up the adoption of new technology into the environmental monitoring paradigm.

We will examine the validation study design and the obstacles faced by the study designers and participating laboratories. The draft protocol and the results of the performance demonstration are the subject of another paper being presented at this year's NEMC. The study organizers wish to acknowledge the participants of the study who volunteered the laboratories, products, and time to complete the study, without these participants the study would not be possible.