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Procedures for Detection and Quantitation

Technical Workgroup

Federal Advisory Committee on Detection and Quantitation Approaches and Uses in Clean Water Act (CWA) Programs

Summary of Technical Work Group Conference Call #36
August 16 2006
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT

The Technical Work Group’s regularly scheduled call was held on Wednesday, August 16 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., EDT.  The call-in number for all calls is 866 299-3188 and the participant code is 202 566 1045#.  The schedule of future Technical Work Group conference calls is:

Action Items

Larry Wymer will contact author David Coleman and prepare a narrative summary about IDE/IQE for distribution at the end of August in advance of the September 13 TWG meeting.  He will request that Mr. Coleman participate in the September 13 call. 

Larry Wymer will prepare a brief document on the reasons why limits determined from the Pilot Study for different procedures are not directly comparable.

To prepare the Procedures 101 documentation for the upcoming December FACDQ meeting, Tim Fitzpatrick will prepare a PowerPoint template for presenting the procedures.  The following TWG members volunteered to use this template and further develop specifics for an assigned procedure:

Triangle will:

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Welcome and Introductions

At 1:00 p.m., Bob Wheeler, facilitator, welcomed participants to the call, conducted a roll call of Technical Work Group members and observers, and briefly reviewed the agenda for the meeting.   If time is available, Mr. Wheeler included a discussion item about MMA data.

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Meeting Summaries from August 2

Mr. Wheeler asked for comments on the draft August 2 meeting summary.  There were no comments, and the summary was approved as drafted.

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Set Meeting/Time for Larry Wymer, ORD IDE/IQE Perspective

The meeting date for the presentation by Larry Wymer and Nicole Shao (EPA/Office of Research and Development) is scheduled for Wednesday, September 13.  The presentation, including time for discussion and questions, will be scheduled as a discussion item for 30 minutes.  Larry Wymer agreed to contact author David Coleman to seek additional information and to prepare a written summary in advance for distribution to Technical Work Group members by the end of August.  Mr. Wymer will ask Mr. Coleman if he can participate in the September 13 call. 

Policy Work Group Assignments to Technical Work Group

Mr. Wheeler reported that at its August 9 meeting, the Policy Work Group assigned two items to the Technical Work Group:

  1. For December FACDQ meeting, have a night session for a Report on the Pilot Study and a “Procedures 101” presentation so committee members are informed about the different procedures; and,
  2. Definitions/Terminology (during the regular meeting) – the Policy Work Group requested the Technical Work Group to prepare rationale behind the definition decisions.

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"Procedures 101" Presentation

It was agreed to use the “What Do We Need a Procedure to Do” document as a framework for the information.  The document would be comprised of an Executive Summary, information about procedures, comparison with “What Do We Need a Procedure to Do”, and the normalized matrix.

In order to prepare the information in a timely manner, Technical Work Group members volunteered to prepare the various procedure sections:

  1. MDL – EPA
  2. IDE – John Phillips
  3. ACIL – Richard Burrows
  4. Consensus Group – John Phillips (w/ Ken Osborne)
  5. Lab QC – Ken Miller
  6. LCMRL – Steve Wendelken
  7. ACIL quantitation – Richard Burrows
  8. Consensus Group quantitation – John Phillips (w/ Ken Osborne)

Tim Fitzpatrick agreed to prepare a draft PowerPoint template of blank slides for the individual procedures for the volunteers to use. 

To assist in the development of the presentation framework, it was requested that the Policy Work Group members be asked if they have specific questions and if there are particular items they want addressed. 

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Definitions/Terminology

Because most of the decisions are captured in some form in the meeting summaries from Technical Work Group and FACDQ meetings, it was agreed that Triangle Associates prepare a draft document to forward to the Technical Work Group for revisions and additional input with respect to rationale.  The completed draft will be discussed at the next meeting for additional comments and fine-tuning.

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Update on Pilot Study

Mr. Wheeler asked Ken Miller to provide the update in Dick Reding’s absence.  Mr. Miller noted that award notifications were sent to laboratories approximately one week ago.  There is a delay in the issuance of the Request for Proposal (RFP) for spike sample preparation.  The schedule is from 10 days to 2 weeks delayed.  Mr. Miller noted that he will check on the current schedule status.

Mr. Miller raised an issue with respect to sample analysis order.  Technical Work Group members were encouraged to provide comments directly to Mr. Miller. 

A question was raised about the status of the FACDQ filing for extension and a desire by the TWG to be regularly updated about this status.  Mr. Wheeler noted that he will add that as a scheduled agenda item to each TWG meeting. 

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TWG and Pilot Design Team Schedule

Mr. Wheeler referred to the Technical Work Group and Pilot Design Team Schedules document and noted that item #8 (page 1) within the box of TWG assignments from the FACDQ will be changed to say “Clarify definitions…” instead of “Revise”.  He noted that item #4 within the box for Pilot Design Team Assignments (i.e., Help develop sample sequence laboratory analysis scheme, page 1) was just determined.  If members have comments, they should send them to Ken Miller.  If there are no major concerns, the group agreed that this task item is considered accomplished.

Mr. Wheeler reminded everyone that the schedule is a working document that will be updated as we go forward.  Changes were made to the current schedule based on today’s meeting.  The Technical Work Group members will receive an update for each TWG meeting.

Calculations/Data Analysis

Mr. Wheeler referred the group to two documents: (1) the color-coded chart of priorities (July FACDQ meeting priorities sent for the August 2 TWG meeting); and, (2) the comments from Nicole Shao printed on the bottom of today’s Agenda regarding data analysis.

Larry Wymer explained ORD’s thoughts on data analysis focused on the concern that Pilot Study limits that are generated for each procedure cannot be directly compared.  After discussion, it was agreed that the important data analysis will be whether or not the procedures meet the MQO’s.  The TWG felt that the Pilot Study report should focus on the MQO’s, and that specific limits generated by the procedures should not be the focus.  The TWG plans to indicate this intent to the FACDQ at its December meeting.  

The TWG agreed that the discussion on the Calculations/Data Analysis is complete pending FACDQ input.

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MMA Data Discussion

There was a brief discussion about MMA data.  Due to limited time, it was agreed that this agenda item be carried over to the August 30 agenda.  The general question raised in the initial discussion concerns how procedures accommodate a data set when a laboratory misidentifies an analyte.   

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Matrix Effects - Technical Ideas to Explore and Set up Issue for Policy Work Group

Larry LaFleur agreed to assist the Policy Work Group with this task by drafting a document for discussion at its next meeting. He will keep the Technical Work Group apprised of progress on the discussion, and forward to the Policy Work Group any information the Technical Work Group feels is necessary for them to consider.

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Public Comment

Mr. Wheeler asked for public comment.  Tom Georgian referred to the prior limits discussion about Calculations/Data Analysis.  He noted that leaving out numerical values/limits is not advisable.  If the concern is about misuse of actual data, Mr. Georgian noted that the approach could be to use it as an opportunity to provide useful information as an educational tool (versus not providing the data).  The concern of comparing generated limits for each procedure was directed to Larry Wymer, with a hope of him generating a short document that specifies the concerns.

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Wrap-up

Mr. Wheeler summarized the items coming forward for the August 30 meeting:

  1. Status of FACDQ extension
  2. Update on Pilot Study
  3. Matrix Effects
  4. Procedures 101 and Approach
  5. Rationale for Definitions
  6. MMA discussions

He reminded everyone that the August 30 meeting is the last 1.5 hour meeting.  The two-hour meeting schedule returns in September.                 

Mr. Wheeler thanked everyone for their time and adjourned the meeting at 2:30 PM EDT.

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Attendance

Technical Work Group Members
States:  Bob Avery and Tim Fitzpatrick
Environmental Laboratories: Steve Bonde and Richard Burrows
Environmental Community:  Richard Rediske
Public Utilities: Ken Osborn and Jim Pletl
Industry: Larry LaFleur and John Phillips
US EPA:
Other Federal:

Triangle Associates
Robert Wheeler and Vicki Shapley

Observers 
Ken Miller (Consultant to EPA Office of Water)
Joanne Dea (EPA Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center)
Nicole Shao (EPA Office of Research and Development)
Larry Wymer (EPA Office of Research and Development)
Tom Georgian (US Army Corps of Engineers)

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