SAMPLING, SAMPLE PREPARATION, CALIBRATION AND QUALITY CONTROL, MEASUREMENT, and CALCULATIONS. Any lengthy instructions for sampler preparation or standardization of stock solutions appear in appendixes to the method. Nomenclature is consistent with the Glossary of Abbreviations, Definitions and Symbols (page A-3).
[NOTE: Additional general information relating to sampling and measurement is contained in the chapters on quality assurance and sampling (pp. 7 through 16 and 17 through 35 of these "Blue Pages").]
- Supporting information Laboratory and field data relating to the method are summarized in the EVALUATION OF METHOD section and on the summary page, along with pertinent references.
5. METHOD CLASSIFICATION
Methods in the fourth edition of the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods are classified into Evaluation categories: Full, Partial, Unrated, and Not Applicable. Classification is based on the results of laboratory testing and evaluation criteria as described in Chapter E. Development and Evaluation of Methods.
The data from these evaluations are summarized in the EVALUATION OF METHOD section in each method. This section may also contain other corroborating data, e.g., collaborative testing, Proficiency Analytical Testing (PAT) data, or field data from NIOSH Sequences. For Partially Evaluated methods, this section will state which evaluation points were not tested, thus providing the user with information on which to make a reasonable judgment on the quality of the data obtained.
- Evaluation: Full
- Fully evaluated methods are methods that have been tested and have met all the factors of the NIOSH evaluation protocol as presented in Chapter E.
- Evaluation: Partial
- Partially evaluated methods are methods that have been subjected to some of the evaluation experiments but have not received a full evaluation (i.e., Short-term Method Development). These may also include methods that were fully tested but did not meet one or two of the evaluation criteria, e.g., some of the earlier-developed methods that do not meet the current ±25% accuracy criterion.
- Evaluation: Unrated
- Unrated methods have not been tested by NIOSH, but have been developed by a recognized independent source such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).}}
- Evaluation: N/A
