Proposal to adapt the WASP programme to fibre counting tests

Our plain-English summary of Proposal to adapt the WASP programme to fibre counting tests, by M. Grzebyk, E. Kauffer, L. Fréville (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 2006).

The study

• Authors: M. Grzebyk, E. Kauffer, L. Fréville
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 2006;50(4):427
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This item was a one-page letter to the editor, not a new study. The authors, from the Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS) in France, replied to comments by B. Préat on their 2005 paper. That paper proposed adapting the Workplace Analysis Scheme for Proficiency (WASP) programme to fibre counting tests. The authors pointed to data presented in their earlier paper: 16 laboratories were classified in Group 3 for the years 2001–2003. Of these, 95% were classified based on an excessively high coefficient of variation, 37% based on a mean outside the acceptance criteria, and 32% based on both. They therefore said it was incorrect to claim that the coefficient of variation criterion plays no significant role. They described the membrane filter method for measuring airborne fibre concentrations as one of the less accurate analytical methods. They said counting variability can fluctuate from one proficiency test to another, citing other authors. They also clarified that a coefficient in their paper referred to within-laboratory dispersion, not inter-analyst dispersion. The letter reported no health outcomes.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Letter to the editor replying to another author's comments on the authors' 2005 paper; it presents no new study
• Who was studied: No new population was studied. The letter refers to data from the authors' earlier paper on 16 laboratories classified in Group 3 for the years 2001–2003.
• Exposure: Not an exposure study. The topic was laboratory proficiency testing for counting airborne fibres by the membrane filter method.
• Main results:
  • Among the 16 laboratories classified in Group 3 (2001–2003), as reported in the authors' earlier paper: 95% were classified based on an excessively high coefficient of variation, 37% based on a mean outside the acceptance criteria, and 32% based on both.
  • The authors stated that there had been no major change to the method over about the last decade, so they considered the earlier estimate of the method's coefficient of variation still realistic in order of magnitude.
  • The authors clarified that the coefficient 'a' in their paper refers to within-laboratory dispersion, not inter-analyst dispersion.
  • The authors said the Jones et al. (2005) study was not aimed at setting a reference within-laboratory coefficient of variation. They added that four of its six laboratories were proficiency test organizers, so its conclusions could not be applied to a larger, more diverse laboratory group.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded it is incorrect to say the coefficient of variation criterion does not play a significant role.

Related studies

• A proposal for harmonising laboratory performance assessment criteria in national asbestos fibre counting schemes — M.C. Arroyo, J.M. Rojo (2001)
• A comparison of fibre counting across three European national proficiency testing schemes — A.D. Jones, M.C. Arroyo, et al. (2005)
• Producing samples for the organization of proficiency tests. Study of the homogeneity of replicas produced from two atmosphere generation systems — L. Freville, J.C. Moulut, et al. (2010)
• Continued participation in an asbestos fiber-counting proficiency test with relocatable grid slides — M. Harper, J.E. Slaven, et al. (2009)
• The effect of a proposed change to fiber-counting rules in ASTM International Standard D7200-06 — M. Harper, E.G. Lee, et al. (2007)
• A summary of asbestos fibre counting experience in seven countries — G.W. Gibbs, P. Baron, et al. (1977)

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