• Medical biology covers a wide range of disciplines: biochemistry, haematology, immunology, microbiology, etc. 
• Medical biology examinations take place in three stages:
  • the pre-analytical phase, which includes taking and transporting biological samples
  • the analytical phase, using various techniques (microscopy, culture, automated medical analysis systems)
  • the post-analytical phase, with validation and interpretation of the results.
• These tests are used to assess a patient's state of health, diagnose pathologies, monitor illnesses and monitor treatment

• As part of your accreditation, your laboratory must meet the requirements of the ISO 15189 standard "Medical laboratories - Requirements for quality and competence" according to the standard scopes for accreditation of medical biology examinations.
• Accreditation of your medical laboratory guarantees the reliability and quality of your medical biology examinations, by checking your competence against that of your peers, other medical labs.

Your laboratory is likely to be interested in these External Quality Assessments:

• medical biology
• waters for medical use

By taking part in these interlaboratory comparisons, you receive an estimate of your analytical performance, enabling you to improve the quality of your measurements on biological samples or medical type water.

• Several Community regulations and directives lay down requirements for the hygiene of food products (foodstuffs and animal feed).
• The aim of these regulations is to protect consumers and ensure that all foodstuffs at the production, storage, processing and distribution stages are
  • they are safe and suitable for human consumption 
  • compliance with quality and health safety requirements.
• Chemical or biological agents that could pose a risk to humans or animals are particularly sought after.
• The role of water in the food sector:
  •  Among food products, drinking water is one of the most closely monitored foodstuff all over the world.
  •  In the food industry, water is an essential resource, not only as an ingredient, but also for production (heating or cooling), cleaning and staff hygiene. The water used may come from a public network and/or a private resource (well, borehole, surface water). In this case, the food company is responsible for the quality of the water from the point of abstraction to the point of use, and must obtain authorisation and undergo specific health checks by the Regional Health Agency.
  • Bottled water is also monitored by producers and distributors. They are subject to specific regulations because of their specific physico-chemical qualities.

As part of your ISO 17025 accreditation, your laboratory must meet the requirements of :

• Accreditation guides for physico-chemical and/or microbiological analyses of foodstuffs intended for humans or animals, as well as analyses of the food environment
• Approvals issued by Ministries of Agriculture to carry out food analyses.

In the case of bottled water, it is recommended that producers ensure that a quality assurance procedure is in place, taking particular account of the risks of contamination of the water by airborne contamination and the quality of the inputs (corks).
You must ensure the validity of your results and monitor your performance by comparing it with the results of other laboratories.

Your laboratory is likely to be interested in these proficiency tests on water, including bottled water:

• Microbiology in water
• Base parameters and indicators in water
• Metals in water
• Organic pollutants in clean water

By taking part in these interlaboratory comparisons, you receive an estimate of your analytical performance, enabling you to improve the quality of your water measurements.

• Monitoring the biological quality of watercourses is part of the monitoring of water bodies.
• As part of this process, laboratories take samples and determine the fauna (benthic invertebrates) and flora (diatoms and macrophytes) in watercourses.
• The results of these samplings and analyses are transcribed in the form of quality indicators that help to assess the ecological status of the water.

As part of your accreditation to ISO 17025 and/or approval, your environmental consultancy must meet the requirements of:

• accreditation guides for water sampling, on-site physico-chemical testing of water and biological analysis of aquatic environments
• approvals issued by Ministries of Health to carry out sampling operations 
• approvals issued by Ministries for the Environment to carry out analyses of aquatic environments under the Environment Code
• the Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60/EC), which sets targets for preserving aquatic ecosystems.

You must ensure the validity of your results and monitor your performance by comparing it with the results of other laboratories.

Your laboratory is likely to be interested in the following categories of proficiency tests:

• Sampling and in situ measurements
• Biology and ecotoxicology

By taking part in these intercomparisons, your environmental consultancy receives an estimate of its analytical performance, enabling it to improve the quality of its measurements.