IAEA organized 'International Symposium on Quality Assurance for Analytical Methods in Isotope Hydrology' will be held in 25-27 August 2004 at IAEA Headquarters in Vienna. The symposium will focus on the performance of analytical methods and how to keep it at a high quality level in routine laboratory operation.

Scarcity of fresh water, degradation of its quality and increasing demand have fostered international interest in isotope methods as tools to characterize and manage freshwater resources. Isotope hydrology is the term for the scientific discipline applying various isotope methods to achieve this goal.

Analytical measurements are the backbone of any isotope hydrology study. These measurements have to be performed at a constant high quality level, which should be assessable in an objective manner. The current trend throughout the whole analytical community is to give high importance to quality assurance/quality control measures, as related to accreditation requirements for laboratories and using general guidelines such as ISO 17052. However, it is noted that no systematic collection of practical guidelines on principles and recommended procedures is available so far for the different analytical methods. The symposium will cover the main aspects of QA for analytical methods used in the field of isotope hydrology.

For more information, please write to Mr M Groening at M.Groening@iaea.org or Ms Regina Perricos at R.Perricos@iaea.org