News
GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY
Search for analytical program director on hold
the short term, but there are concerns about the effect of this vacancy over an extended period of time. "It's like an organization that has an acting person as the head. Things just go on hold. The program to some extent loses its memory," says Osteryoung. "This is the kind of job in which it can take a long time to build the base of knowledge to the point that a person understands when it's worthwhile to do creative things and put some effort into an initiative, or to become familiar enough with the community to interact in the most productive way." The position first became vacant more than two years ago, but a search was not launched until Blount officially became the head of the office of multidisciplinary activities. "There was a considerable period during which there was uncertainty about whether he would come-back [to the Ana-
lytical and Surface Chemistry Program]," says Osteryoung. The program director for analytical and surface chemistry is the person within NSF who is responsible for the overall health of academic analytical chemistry. The program director's responsibilities include implementing the proposal review process, managing and monitoring grants and interagency agreements, and representing chemistry on permanent and ad hoc committees within NSF. Osteryoung does not know when the position will be advertised again. In addition, the next time the job is advertised, it will be listed as either a temporary (as a stopgap measure) or a permanent position. However, she notes, "We definitely need to have a permanent person in the position. It will be an ongoing process to look for somebody." Celia Henry
round-robin experiments will be carried out to assess the performance of the laboratories, so the continuity of existing quality control systems is not endangered. MarIn Germany, the ISO 17025 standard will tens is convinced that labs can avoid buybe introduced at the end of 1999. It will ing necessary, but expensive, standard replace the currently valid ISO Guide 25 instrumentation while applying for accredi(in the U.S. new National Environmental tation under the current standards. Laboratory Accreditation Conference standards are also based on ISO Guide Andrea Valbuene, head of accredita25) and DIN 45010 standards. The DIN, tion at the Deutsche Akkreditierung Sysor German industrial standards, are intem Priifwesen, Berlin (German Accredicreasingly being replaced by or adapted tion Systems Test Affairs), also has a to ISO standards. Although the introducpositive view: "Unlike certification, the tion of ISO 17025 is welcomed by nearly accreditation confirms the professional all involved parties, the effects are viewed competence of the labs by an independent differently. organization." "Every lab should apply for accreditaThe accreditation will be valid for five tion," says Monika Wloka of the Bundesyears. During this time the testing labs can anstalt fur Materialforschung und -pruning expect three unannounced inspections. At in Berlin (Federal Institution for Material the European level the accreditation organiResearch and Testing). She participated in zations are allied within the European Coopthe formulation of the ISO 25 standard as a eration for Accreditation (ECA). It is the German representative. "The new stanbackbone of a European evaluation system. dard is the only way to ensure the accuracy But accreditation is an expensive propoof test results," Wloka insists. sition. A lab that is performing heavy-metal analyses will need to invest about 12,(XX) Jiirgen Martens of the department of chemistry at the University of Oldenburg German marks (6720 USD)—too much for smaller labs. points out the advantages: The qualifications of the employees will improve conAlthough the testing industry as a tinuously, because documented training whole should not shrink as a result from is required. Further development of qual- the new standard, even Wloka cannot igity systems' standards are necessary for nore the trend toward bigger labs, particuthe labs that are already accredited. Also, larly taking into consideration steadily de-
creasing prices for analyses. Jiirgen Ehmann, head of the central quality affairs of the Institut Fresenius in Taunusstein articulates his criticisms clearly, "The [opposing demands] of decreasing prices and increasing quality demands cannot be satisfied." Although he welcomes the standard, he warns of the consequences: "Small labs working in environmental analysis are especially threatened." In this area, public authorities must take special precautions. Inexpensive analyses, often carried out by technicians can produce poor quality analytical data that are useless but still must be archived. Birgit Grahl, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Lubeck, points out a concern about the push for lower prices. "Nobody questions the high fees of certified accountants, but a heavy metal analysis is expected to cost as littte as eeght marks (4.50 USD)," she says. .Good quality cannot be achieved this way." In general the testing labs face pressure to keep costs low, which could lead to personnel reductions as a moneysaving measure in the medium term. According to Grahl, this may lead to a less-qualified staff. Ehmann also fears that ISO 17025 will not improve the struggling analytical market in Germany. Hanns-J. Neubert
The initial search for Henry Blount's replacement as the program director for the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has come up empty-handed. "We got lots of applications to our advertisement, but we didn't get a strong set of candidates with a significant background in analytical chemistry," says Janet Osteryoung, director of NSF's Division of Chemistry. Although the position has already been vacant for an extended period of time, the search for Blount's replacement has been put on hold while the division focuses on other vacancies. The Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program has the personnel to manage over
Changing standards in Germany
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Analytical Chemistry News & Features, November 1, 1998
