Preservative Check

Overview

The DQM Check for Preservative evaluates if the chemical preservative for each test method in a sample matches the required chemical preservative. When a discrepancy is found, DQM qualifies all results for the TEST_ID with the mismatch.

The preservation field is used by both the Preservative check and the Holding Time Check. However, because the technical holding times for some analytical method and matrix combinations are dependent upon whether the sample is preserved, access to the relevant data in RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE is in the Holding Time Check in DQM Settings.

Check

Check name is EarthSoft.DQM.Preservative.

Parameters

This check uses two Global Parameters:

1.reportable_result – DT_RESULT.REPORTABLE_RESULT values to include in DQM datasets

2.test_type_batch – AT_TEST_BATCH_ASSIGN.TEST_BATCH_TYPE to include in DQM dataset

There are two parameters available for this check. This parameter does not allow for analyte-specific or method-specific PARAM_VALUEs.

1.sample_type_code – the sample type(s) of the samples to be included in this check. The default value is “N”.

2.result_type_code – the result type(s) of the results to be included in this check. The default value is “TRG”.

Note: Default parameter values listed above refer to the value provided in the DQM Starter QAPP.xlsx.

Rules

There is one rule:

1.Incorrect Preservative – for when the preservative for the test method in DT_TEST.PRESERVATIVE does not match the preservative for the test method in the DQM QAPP in RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE.

The Apply Remark for this rule in the DQM Starter QAPP when an exception is encountered is:
“The preservative for this test id does not match the required preservative in RT_HOLDING_TIME.”

Notes:

•A non-null value must be input into RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE for each analytic_method and medium_code. If a given analytic_method and medium_code should have no preservative, RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE should be populated with "None". DQM will then flag the presence of any preservative as an exceedance.

•The RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE field may be populated with more than one preservative.
A. To accept certain preservatives either individually or combined (multiple concatenated), populate If populating RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE with a comma separated string of values (e.g. HCL,NA2S2O3). DQM will consider DT_TEST.PRESERVATIVE to be correct if it contains any one of the values or more of the values in the string, alone or with other (non-specified) preservatives (e.g. when RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE = HCL,Na2S2O3 and DT_TEST.PRESEVATIVE = Na2S2O3 or DT_TEST.PRESEVATIVE = HCL,ice).
B. To require more than one preservative as a single value, populate RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE field with an underscore string of values. DQM will consider DT_PRESERVATIVE.PRESERVATIVE to be correct if it contains only the entire string (e.g. HCL_NA2S2O3).

•All preservatives input into the RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE field must already exist in RT_PRESERVATIVE. If populating the RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE field with a value that includes an underscore (e.g. HCL_NA2S2O3), then this exact value (HCL_NA2S2O3) must also exist in RT_PRESERVATIVE. In addition, if populating the RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE field with a comma separated string, the entire comma separated string is required to be populated in RT_PRESERVATIVE (e.g. “ICE,HCL” as one value).

Exceptions

DQM will compare the preservative listed in DT_TEST.PRESERVATIVE for each analytical method and medium code for every sample_type_code in RT_DQM_CHECK_PARAM.PARAM_VALUE to the preservative listed in RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE.

When the preservative field in DT_TEST.PRESERVATIVE does not match the preservative in RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE, and exception is added for the Rule = INCORRECT PRESERVATIVE.

An example remark saved to DT_RESULT.DQM_REMARK for this exception is:

•“The preservative for this test id does not match the required preservative, NONE, in RT_HOLDING_TIME.”

Notes:

•DQM treats a null value or a value of “NONE” in DT_TEST.PRESERVATIVE to be the same and to mean that the sample was not chemically preserved.

Errors

An error occurs when no value is populated in RT_HOLDING_TIME.PRESERVATIVE for a given analytic_method and medium_code contained in the data set in the DQM Event.

An example error message is: No value was found in the RT_HOLDING_TIME_PRESERVATIVE column for the QAPP Code and Analytic Method = SW-846 8270D and Medium_Code = Water.