Traceability / Trackability

Abstract

Traceability is a key metrological concept which is defined by the International Vocabulary of Basic and General Terms in Metrology as „the-property of a result of a measurement or the value of a standard whereby it can be related to stated references, usually national or international, through an unbroken chain of comparisons all having stated uncertainties“ [1]. From this definition, it is clearly stated that any experimental measure is based on a comparison with references and that the knowledge of the uncertainties of the values to be compared is absolutely necessary. Therefore, traceability allows the comparability and the harmonisation of results between analytical laboratories. Hence, demonstration of traceability is the primary objective in chemical measurements.

Recently, a wider meaning of the traceability concept has been recognized. In fact, there is an etymological meaning related to the history of the generation of a product or the behaviour of a system. Thus, the ISO 8402-94 („Quality Management and Quality Assurance Vocabulary”) defines traceability as “the ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recorded identifications”. This additional facet adds to a richer concept of traceability. Some authors also proposed complementary terms, like for example trackability [2, 3]. They reported the following definition: “the property of a result of a measurement whereby the result can be unique related to the sample”. It means that the result of a measurement can be linked unambiguously to the sample to which it refers.

All these tracing connotations will be presented and discussing their implications from the quality point of view of the results provided by the laboratories, as well as the quality of the activities involved in the production of analytical reports.