The standard laboratory module: an integrated approach to standardization in the analytical laboratory

Abstract Certainly one of the biggest challenges and needs facing the analytical laboratory of the '90s is that of integration and standardization. The US Department of Energy, through its immense environmental program, has launched a program aimed at standardizing the technologies used in the laboratory. This program, led by Los Alamos National Laboratory, has developed the concept of the standard laboratory module (SLM), which forms the building block for methods and laboratories. An SLM is a hardware and/or software module which performs a complete subtask in an analytical protocol. This paper will describe the program to date with emphasis on the SLM and illustrate its integration into methods and, ultimately, the laboratory.