How low can you go? Different ways to determine the limit of detection

Why Should You Attend:

Do you have the confidence to defend the method used to establish the limit of detection for your analysis? Demonstration of a defensible method of limit of detection determination is a critical part of an analysis package. Total reliance on an instrument data system to detect analytes without analyst evaluation can lead to false positives and false negatives. Do you know that even with a standardized analytical method, limits of detection still need to be determined and documented?

The limit of detection is the lowest amount of analyte that can be detected and can be identified. Determination of a limit of detection seems like a very simple process, but it is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied concepts in chemical analysis. When low detection limits are required to detect analytes below regulatory limits, a laboratory must be able to demonstrate its capability to meet those requirements. In legal cases of drug testing, trace evidence or toxic substance analysis, limits of detection are often the most contentious subjects that are discussed in court. False positives and false negatives must be minimized.

This webinar will present various approved methods of limits of detection determination and apply them to illustrative data to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of each method in different scenarios. Attendees will learn the difference between instrumental limits of detection and method limits of detection and when each should be applied appropriately. Attendees will also learn how to determine limits of quantitation.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• The various accepted methods to determine limits of detection and limits of quantitation
• How different limit of detection methods are appropriate to different analytical techniques
• The advantage and disadvantages of each method
• The difference between instrumental and method limits of detection
• How to choose the best limit of detection method that is suitable for the intended purpose of the analysis
• How to design, execute and document the tests to determine limits of detection
• How to calculate limits of detection from these tests
• How to verify that the determined limit of detection does not produce false positives or false negatives
• How to determine the limit of quantitation that has an acceptable level of uncertainty
• How to prepare an SOP with instructions on how to determine a method’s limit of detection and limit of quantitation

Who Will Benefit:

• Quality assurance manager
• Method development and validation chemist
• Forensic chemist
• Toxicological chemist
• Environmental chemist
• Food chemist
• Clinical chemist
• Chemistry laboratory manager

James Peterson
Forensic Chemistry Consultant, James C Peterson LLC

Dr. James C. Peterson has a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland and has over 36 years of analytical chemistry laboratory experience in academic, private, state, and federal laboratories. As a qualified chemist forensic examiner for the FBI Laboratory, he managed and oversaw forensic chemical examinations of evidence for the presence of chemical weapons. He has served as an analytical chemistry expert witness in legal cases related to the human exposure to toxic chemicals.

Dr. Peterson directed the start-up of five analytical laboratories which included the preparation of quality assurance documentation, instrumentation qualification and method development and validation. He has developed numerous methodologies for the detection and identification of toxic chemicals and drugs in human blood and urine, trace evidence and environmental samples and has given scientific presentations and training seminars at local, national and international conferences.

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