Quality Control Advisor and GC Advisor

The Quality Control Advisor and GC Advisor provides answers, explanations, and definitions for selecting the QC samples and GC detectors needed to meet your specific data quality objectives. It takes the guesswork out of these critical aspects of sampling and analysis.

The program covers quality control samples such as instrument blanks, solvent blanks, laboratory blank spikes, field blank spikes, QC check samples, trip blanks, equipment blanks, material blanks, background samples, area control samples, duplicate samples, replicate samples, and replicate analyses. The program will help you save time and money by eliminating QC samples not needed and by making sure you don't forget the QC samples needed for your specific objectives. If you already have analytical data, you can input the QC samples you have and the program will advise what kinds of QC data quality objectives they can be used for, as well as indicate the type of QC information for which they cannot be used.

GC detectors include mass spectrometers (full scan and selected ion monitoring), electron capture, electrolytic conductivity, nitrogen/phosphorous, flame photometric, flame ionization, and photoionization. The advantages and disadvantages of each are presented along with recommendations for which detectors to use based on confidence level, sensitivity, selectivity, and pollutant types.

This program is based on the ACS Principles of Environmental Sampling, ACS Principles of Environmental Analysis, L.H. Keith's Environmental Sampling and Analysis-A Practical Guide, and J. K. Taylor's Quality Assurance of Chemical Measurements. They are essential for anyone who plans or participates in sampling and analytical activities or uses data from environmental analytical laboratories.