18: Use of Reference Materials in Toxicology
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Published:14 Jul 2016
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Special Collection: RSC eTextbook CollectionProduct Type: Textbooks
J. Button, in Forensic Toxicology: Drug Use and Misuse, ed. S. Davies, A. Johnston, and D. Holt, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016, pp. 370-399.
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In commerce and society, numerous measurement comparisons are performed daily, and the need for standardisation of these measurements is ubiquitous in everyday life. Many important decisions are based on the results of chemical quantitative analysis, not least of all in clinical and forensic toxicology: prognosis, dose adjustments, loss of driving licence, employment or child custody, assigned cause of death or a criminal conviction. As technology advances and analytical instruments become more sensitive, the requirement for higher quality reference materials increases. After all, a result will only ever be as good as the measurement and in turn the point of reference.