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Fiberquant Analytical Services

A Commitment To Quality

Corporation Philosophy

Fiberquant has always believed that a lab is only as good as its quality assurance (QA) program. While other labs maximize production and minimize quality assurance activities, Fiberquant’s consuming pursuit of the most accurate and precise analyses has made quality assurance a major part of our activities. For every analysis type attempted, a comprehensive QA program (including analyst background and training, routine analysis of reference samples, routine calibration and equipment checks, routine re-analysis, analysis of blanks and spikes, the exchange of samples with other labs, and precise record keeping) is established.

When national proficiency programs are available for an analysis type, Fiberquant participates. We have been in the NVLAP programs for PLM and TEM analysis from their start-up in 1988, we gained AIHA accreditation for our PCM and industrial hygiene AA programs, and were one of the first labs in the nation to be accredited by AIHA and thereby recognized by the National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP) for Pb in paint, soil and wipes.

Quality assurance is a special interest of Dr. Pierce, since he routinely sees the short-comings of other labs during his on-site assessments. He was asked to present at the 1995 Environmental Information Association national conference examples of what asbestos and lead labs should be doing for quality assurance. Fiberquant is a high quality lab. We think that our choice to have highly qualified personnel, our choice to have well-maintained equipment, and our choice to have numerous checks and re-checks of data and records is reflected in the accuracy and reliability of our analyses. It is not easy to remain competitive with laboratories who do not share our "quality first" approach to business. We spend more time analyzing your sample than other labs, and so our prices tend to be higher than theirs, but considering the stakes riding on environmental analysis, we feel that we cannot take any other approach.

Fiberquant’s commitment to quality extends from the choice of personnel through the development of standard operating procedures through the analysis to the report issued. At no point are compromises made for economy or profit’s sake that would be detrimental to the accuracy or precision of the analysis. For example, if a bulk asbestos sample is complex and will take an hour to do rather than the usual 15 minutes, so be it.

Fiberquant is run by analysts, not accountants.