Referee analyses: A better approach than data validation

Data validation, as prescribed in guidance documents provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yields legal evidence that an analytical laboratory has performed analyses according to predetermined specifications. This validation process, because it involves only the checking of procedural documentation, provides minimal information concerning the technical validity of the data. Unfortunately, in the minds of many, the performance of such a data validation has become synonymous with technical validity. A better approach is to implement a routine program of referee analyses. That is, submit a predetermined number of samples from the project to a second laboratory. A routine program of this type provides a self-checking and self-correcting mechanism for determining whether data are technically valid. Publication No. 3874, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL. Managed by Martin-Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400.