# Presentation: 903787

## Laboratory Evaluation Help Center

- Step-by-Step Guidance for the “**Lab Form”**

## WARNING!

- The forms available on the LEP website are **not yet live**. They are mock-ups of the upcoming web-based forms that will feed directly to our database.
- Do not enter data into these forms while on the web – all entries will be lost. Instead, copy the form to your computer and use them as a template for now.

## Lab Form – Lab Contact Info

| Laboratory Form for USGS projects |   |   |   |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lab Name |   | Lab NWIS ID |   |
| Lab Contact Name |   | Lab Contact Phone |   |
| email address |  |  |  |
| Mailing address |   |   |   |
| Shipping Address |   |   |   |
| City, State, Zip |   |   |   |
|  |   |   |  |

- The first section on the Lab Form is self-explanatory, and when live, will populate itself from information already provided. For now, they can just fill in the Lab Name, as the other information will be available from previously entered data.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific Info

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- The laboratory will need to copy in the analyte names for the method you specified, or for the method they suggest you use based on the concentration range and analyte list you provided. Make sure they have covered ALL of your requested analytes, as sometimes a particular method may not cover all analytes of interest.
- When this form is live, the analyte name and matrix fields will already be populated based on information already provided.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- The laboratory will need to type in the method you specified, or for the method they suggest based on the concentration range and analyte list you provided.
- When this form is live, the method name will be filled in automatically _**IF**_ you provided a specific method for them to use.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- The laboratory will need to type in the applicable concentration range of the method they intend to provide. This information is generally found in the “Scope and Application” section of analytical methods.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- Variability is defined as the relative standard deviation, and requires the laboratory to state the concentration of the samples used to determine this measure.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- Bias is defined as the mean percent recovery (where applicable), and requires the laboratory to state the concentration of the samples used to determine this measure. Please provide the concentration of the samples used to assess recovery in the “at X concentration” field.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- The “reporting level” is the default less-than value provided when the lab does not detect the analyte.
- The “MDL” is the method detection limit, defined as the concentration at which there is less than a 1% chance of a false positive. If they leave this blank, you will need to decide if this information is critical to your project or not.

## Lab Form – Analyte Specific cont.

| TABLE 1. - Analyte Constants  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANALYTE |   | METHOD |   |  | MATRIX |   |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Applicable Method Concentration Range |  | Units |  Variability | at X concentration | Bias | at X concentration |
| Low |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| High |   |   |  |  |  |  |
|   |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Reporting Level |  |   | MDL |  |  |  |
| <X |   |  |   |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Accreditations / Certifications |  |  |  |  |  |  |

- If the laboratory has pertinent accreditations or certifications, they can enter those here.
- Accreditation criteria can be very different from state to state, so if you are unfamiliar with a state’s criteria, you can’t assume any particular level of competency.

## Lab Form – Table 2 - DATA

- Table 2 is where the laboratory will either upload or copy and paste their own blind data, or will report the results of blind samples you submitted to them for analysis.
- In the first case, the lab will know the True Value and will provide that information to you.
- If you provided blind samples to them, the lab will only provide the “Reported Value”.

| Analyte |  P code | Matrix | Method | Date Analyzed | Sample Type | Study Name | Reported Value | Units | True Value  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| example 2 | 45678B | GW | SM1234 | 2/2/2006 | USGS Round robin | Fall 06 | 1 | mg/L | 0.98 |

## Lab Form – Table 2 - DATA

- The _Analyte Names_ and _Methods_ can be copied by the laboratory into this table from your “Project Form” Table 1, so you can track results.
- When this form is live, each of these fields will be self-populating.
- P code (parameter code) and Matrix will be self-populating, and do not require the laboratory to fill them out at this time. (Besides, non-USGS labs don’t know what a parameter code is!)

| Analyte |  P code | Matrix | Method | Date Analyzed | Sample Type | Study Name | Reported Value | Units | True Value  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| example 2 | 45678B | GW | SM1234 | 2/2/2006 | USGS Round robin | Fall 06 | 1 | mg/L | 0.98 |

## Lab Form – Table 2 - DATA

- “Date Analyzed” is the date of analysis of a Test Sample. This is necessary to assess only their most recent data.
- “Sample Type” is the kind of blind sample reported. Examples include WS and WP studies, USGS Standard Reference Samples, or Environment Canada studies (to name a few).
- “Study Name” is the name of the specific study, such as WS109, WP 131, or M-176 .

| Analyte |  P code | Matrix | Method | Date Analyzed | Sample Type | Study Name | Reported Value | Units | True Value  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| example 2 | 45678B | GW | SM1234 | 2/2/2006 | USGS Round robin | Fall 06 | 1 | mg/L | 0.98 |

## Lab Form – Table 2 - DATA

- Reported Value is the numerical result of the test.
- “Units” is the concentration as reported.
- “True Value” is the value to compare with the “Reported Value”.

| Analyte |  P code | Matrix | Method | Date Analyzed | Sample Type | Study Name | Reported Value | Units | True Value  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| example 2 | 45678B | GW | SM1234 | 2/2/2006 | USGS Round robin | Fall 06 | 1 | mg/L | 0.98 |

## Lab Form - On-Going Tests

| Analyte |  P code | Matrix | Method | Date Analyzed | Sample Type | Study Name | Reported Value | Units | True Value  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| example 2 | 45678B | GW | SM1234 | 2/2/2006 | USGS Round robin | Fall 06 | 1 | mg/L | 0.98 |

- This same form can be used to collect data throughout the life of the project. You will continue to provide samples for analysis on a predefined periodicity, or the lab will provide an adequate number of blind sample results to meet your data quality needs. The results of these tests will be added to the BQS database.

## End

- _[http://bqs.usgs.gov/lep/index.html](http://bqs.usgs.gov/lep/index.html)_
- Brooke Connor, Project Chief 303.236.1877
- Terry Schertz, Branch Chief 303.236.1835

- >>go to the lab form

- >>end show