Data Validation

Validating your Data

Our core expertise revolves around understanding analytical chemistry, and its real world application in the field of environmental data. Accordingly, we offer unmatched analytical data qualification and data validation services that meet or exceed regulatory and /or defensibility needs. Over several years, TerraBase Inc. has spent considerable resources developing, automating, and standardizing these capabilities in a niche that has long yearned for standardization.

While TerraBase Inc. can support your validation needs, we also provide your validated data in a TerraBase format allowing you to view your data spatially, and incorporate user specified queries to help determine usability of the data.

TerraBase Inc. has developed standard operating procedures for data validation that are used in conjunction with a comprehensive library of documented analytical defect codes. This use of SOP’s and the defect codes offer you a validation report that is easy to understand, and completely consistent between data packages, or individual validators.

Multiple levels of data validation are ubiquitous to the environmental arena. The difference between the defensibility of “raw” lab data, and “validated” data can often mean the difference between compliance vs. non-compliance, and other crucial courtroom defensibility issues. These multiple levels of data quality derived from the validation process are integrated within the TerraBase database. TerraBase is unique in that it can store up to 4 levels of data quality for any parameter stored in the database.

These four levels of data quality can all be related to various forms of data validation.

  • 1. Lab Data: These data are submitted directly from the laboratory in both electronic, and hard copy format. Verification of EDD (electronic data deliverable) to hard copy is made to ensure that all data is consistent.
  • 2. Level III Validated Data:These data are reviewed according to TerraBase Inc.’s own documented PDQ procedures that incorporate DQO/QAPP specific criteria with National Functional Guidelines. This level of validation requires a CLP or CLP-like summary laboratory report, and includes all evaluations that are not derived exclusively from raw instrument data.
  • 3. Level IV Validated Data: These data undergo full review and evaluation of a complete validatable package (CLP or CLP-like) according to DQO/QAPP (quality assurance project plan) specific criteria, and National Functional Guidelines. This level of review includes all summaries, and raw data associated with the data package, and ensures the highest level of defensibility.
  • 3. Data Usability: These data have been subjected to a Level IV validation, and are further reviewed across an entire project or sampling event. Analytical data are identified which are truly site-related for a sampling project. Many false positives on a project level can be eliminated due to rinsate and field blank contamination, and common laboratory contaminants. Furthermore, reported results can be compared to concentrations of concern defined in the (QAPP) to determine the significance of these results. The information presented in TerraBase Inc.’s Data Usability Report provides the most accurate picture of analytes present at a site from which risk assessment decisions can be made.