ISO 17025 application within racing chemistry: a case study

The upgrading of the traditional laboratory standard for analytical chemistry from a combination of ISO/IEC Guide 25 and EN45001 to ISO17025 has generated much discussion across the doping control sector for animal sports. This paper will outline an approach which originates within the spirit of the new standard, but which is then extended to a pragmatic implementation-which has led to full accreditation through the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). A number of problem areas are highlighted and solutions proposed. Affected laboratories are distributed relatively sparsely around the world, and developments that occur internationally will undoubtedly have an impact upon the evolution of accreditation standards. It is, therefore, imperative that effective communication takes place to disseminate developments, and this paper is intended to prompt such discussion. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.