TNI Recognizes Oklahoma DEQ as a NELAP Accreditation Body

Date Posted: 4-4-2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2018

On April 2, 2018, TNI's Accreditation Council recognized the Laboratory Accreditation Program of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality as a National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) Accreditation Body. Under Oklahoma's program, Oklahoma's laboratories may voluntarily apply to be accredited to the TNI Environmental Laboratory Sector Standard for these categories:

Drinking water laboratory. A drinking water laboratory may be accredited for Fields of Accreditation in the following categories: metals, general chemistry, microbiology, asbestos, synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or radionuclides.

General environmental laboratory. A laboratory may be accredited for Fields of Accreditation in the following categories: metals, nutrients, oxygen demands, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), general chemistry I and/or II, microbiology, asbestos, synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radionuclides, whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing, hazardous waste characterization, petroleum hydrocarbons, perchlorate, and/or basic environmental laboratory.

NELAP accredited laboratories in other states may now apply for secondary accreditation from Oklahoma without additional proficiency testing, quality assurance, or on-site assessment requirements.

Oklahoma becomes the 14th state to join TNI's national effort to establish rigorous standards to ensure the competency of laboratories that measure contaminants in environmental media.

For more information about the Oklahoma program, go to http://www.deq.state.ok.us/CSDnew/labcert.htm.

For More Information about NELAP Lynn Bradley, NELAP Program Administrator
[email protected]

Link to Press Release: http://nelac-institute.org/docs/news/okdeqpress.pdf