d. Sample Stability
To assess sample stability, samples should be collected from a generated atmosphere, stored under defined conditions (i.e., ambient or refrigerated, light or dark), and analyzed at specified time periods. A concentration of 0.5 times the lowest exposure limit should be sampled with 30 samplers for a minimum of ½ the MRST. The humidity and temperature of the generator should be at the same level as defined in the sample capacity experiment to reduce sample capacity. The samplers should be divided randomly into one group of 12, one group of 6, and four groups of 3, with the group of 12 analyzed as soon after collection as possible (Day 0). The group of 6 samplers should be analyzed after 7 days. The four remaining sets of 3 samplers should be analyzed after 10, 14, 21, and 30 days. The conditions of storage are determined by the nature of the analyte. If there is an indication of analyte instability on the sampling medium, refrigeration of the samplers may be required. However, storage for the first 7 days should be at room temperature.
Samples should be stable for a minimum of 7 days under ambient conditions to simulate shipping to a laboratory for analysis. If the average analysis results of the samplers analyzed on day 7 differs from the set analyzed on day 0 by more than 10%, the method does not meet the sample stability criterion. Either additional precautions, such as shipment on ice and refrigerator storage, may be required or the method may have to be modified to address this problem. If a plot of recovery versus time indicates that recovery decreased by more than 10% after the initial 7-day storage period, sample instability is a problem. If samples need to be stored for longer periods, more restrictive storage conditions are required. Remedial action, such as cold storage may solve this longer term storage problem. After remedial precautions have been instituted in the method, the sample stability of the method must be redetermined.
e. Precision, Bias, and Accuracy
Results from four sets of samplers used in the analyte recovery experiment, the sampling and analysis experiments (e.g., the environmental parameters experiments), and the sample stability experiment can be used for the estimation of precision, bias, and accuracy of the method. A more exacting treatment of this is described elsewhere [1]. Sampler results from the multi-level factorial design at the 0.1, 1.0, and 2.0 times the exposure limit value; the sampler stability experiment (at 0.5 times the exposure limit); and the environmental factors experiment are used in the calculations of method precision. The calculations for the estimated method precision, rT, have been described previously [1,16,17,18]. Before obtaining a pooled estimate of method precision from the four sets of samplers listed above, the homogeneity of the precision over the range of concentrations studied should be checked using a test, such as Bartlett's test [1,16,17]. If the precision is not found to be constant over concentrations, the sample set collected at 0.1 x exposure limit should be removed and Bartlett's test recalculated. Homogeneity of the method precision at all concentration levels is an assumption required to obtain pooled estimate of method precision.
Bias is assumed to be homogeneous over the evaluation range. This assumption should be tested by estimating the bias at each concentration and testing these for homogeneity using the procedures described in the literature [1]. Method bias should be less than 10%. A test for this is also described [18].
The bias and precision estimates can be used with the graph presented in Figure 1 or in Table I to estimate accuracy [19]. The bias and precision estimates are plotted on the x- and y-axes of the graph. The intersection of these points on the parabolic grid in the graph can be used to estimate the accuracy of the method. This
procedure gives an estimate of method accuracy but does not yield the statistic required to test compliance of
