Many years of experiences in internal quality control in the toxicological analysis of biological material in the field of occupational medicine

Summary Toxicological analysis in blood and urine for biological monitoring of occupationally exposed persons must be carried out in the Federal Republic of Germany under an internal and external quality control scheme. The results of many years of experiences with 5 commercially available control specimens (1 blood, 1 serum, 3 urine samples) from three companies for internal quality assurance are presented. Precision and accuracy were evaluated by comparison of our results with the data of the initial period (within day precision of the methods) and the assigned values. Over years the commercially available control specimens show good comparable results. Except in a few cases, there was a good agreement between our results and the assigned values. An expected worldwide increase of the importance of biological monitoring makes the availability of control specimens for everyday use a prerequisite in effective internal quality control. This is especially valid for the determination of organic compounds, e.g. solvents and pesticides in blood and urine samples.