caa a22 4500 605465886 CHVBK 20210128100304.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00769-015-1138-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00769-015-1138-z Noblett Tracey LGC Standards Proficiency Testing, 1, Chamberhall Business Park, BL9 0AP, Bury, UK aut The effects of transport on microbiological proficiency test samples [Elektronische Daten] [Tracey Noblett] Participants taking part in proficiency testing (PT) schemes often question whether the transport conditions, particularly time and temperature, could affect their sample and subsequently their performance scores. This is particularly true for microbiology PT schemes which contain living microorganisms and therefore pose a significant challenge in maintaining stability during a range of different transport conditions. Even though the PT provider can perform stability testing, it is impossible to predict and reproduce all possible environmental conditions that samples could be exposed to during transport. In this study, a number of PT scheme samples were selected in order to observe the effects of transport on the participant results for a range of different microorganisms and matrices. For each microorganism over a number of rounds, the participant results were compared against date of analysis, average distance travelled (km) and average temperature (°C) of destination country in order to determine whether there were any significant trends between participants' results and the different transport conditions. More than half of participants (62%) received and tested the PT samples within 4days of the dispatch date, and 90% of participants received and tested the samples within 10days of the dispatch date. Distance travelled by samples ranged from 0 to 16000km, and the average temperature of destination countries ranged from -10°C to +25°C. The results varied by round and microorganism, but overall the date of analysis, distance travelled and average temperature of destination country were not found to have a significant effect on participant results. Even participants from the same country receiving and testing the same sample at the same time could obtain very different results which are therefore unlikely to be due to transport factors. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015 Proficiency testing nationallicence Transport nationallicence Stability nationallicence Time nationallicence Temperature nationallicence Accreditation and Quality Assurance Springer Berlin Heidelberg 20/4(2015-08-01), 329-333 0949-1775 20:4<329 2015 20 769 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-015-1138-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-015-1138-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Noblett Tracey LGC Standards Proficiency Testing, 1, Chamberhall Business Park, BL9 0AP, Bury, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Accreditation and Quality Assurance Springer Berlin Heidelberg 20/4(2015-08-01), 329-333 0949-1775 20:4<329 2015 20 769