North American Proficiency Testing Program -- An Overview of the First Five Years. (5796)
Authors:
K.L. Schilke-Gartley* - Univ. of Delaware
R.O. Miller - Colo. State Univ., Fort Collins, CO J. Kotuby-Amacher - Utah State Univ., Logan UT V. Normandin - Mottz Laboratory, Tempe, AZ D. Horneck - Oreg. State Univ., Hermiston, OR M. Watson - Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH
Abstract:
The North American Proficiency Testing Program (NAPT) was created to improve the quality of the agricultural laboratory industry by providing sample exchanges and statistical analysis of the data to laboratories testing soil and plants. The NAPT was the result of a meeting in 1997 in which industry stakeholders (e.g.,
laboratories, clients, regulators, scientists and agency representatives) came to a consensus that there was a need for a single national program to provide external quality assurance. Such a program would benefit the industry and the clients alike by documenting the quality of the results. The plan that was developed called for the NAPT to be a voluntary program with an educational mission. The NAPT would be operated by a Program Coordinator who would oversee daily activities and a Contract Laboratory that would distribute the samples. These two positions would report to an Oversight Committee made up of various industry
representatives and stakeholders. The entire program would be an activity of the Soil Science Society of America whose scientific and professional missions would give further support to the status of the NAPT. In 1999, the NAPT officially began.
Today, the NAPT has approximately 160 participating laboratories from the US, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. New methods, programs and services have been added since 1999 to further meet the needs of participants and stakeholders. An overview of the first five years of the NAPT will be presented.
Speaker Information: Karen Schilke-Gartley, Univ. of Delaware, 152 Townsend Hall531 S. College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-1303; Phone: (302) 831-1385; E-mail:
Session Information: Wednesday, November 3, 2004, 2:00 PM-4:00 PM Presentation Start: 2:00 PM (Poster Board Number: 1955)
Keywords: soil testing; plant analysis; proficiency testing; agricultural testing
