Which statement about a spiked sample is correct?

Which statement about a spiked sample is correct?

• A. It is a wet wipe spiked with a known amount of lead to test the laboratory's ability to analyze dust wipe samples
• B. It is used to calibrate the field instrument
• C. It is a wipe that has no lead added and serves as a blank
• D. It is a dry wipe used for long-term storage

Answer: (A)

Spiked samples test how well a lab performs the whole analysis by adding a known amount of lead to a sample matrix and then measuring it as if it were a real dust wipe. In this context, a wet wipe that has a precise, known quantity of lead is used to check the lab’s ability to analyze dust wipe samples accurately, including recovery during extraction and overall measurement accuracy. This isn’t for calibrating field instruments (that uses calibration standards), nor is it a blank (which would have no lead), nor a dry wipe (which relates to storage conditions). So describing a wet wipe spiked with lead to assess the lab’s analytical performance is the correct concept.

Spiked samples test how well a lab performs the whole analysis by adding a known amount of lead to a sample matrix and then measuring it as if it were a real dust wipe. In this context, a wet wipe that has a precise, known quantity of lead is used to check the lab’s ability to analyze dust wipe samples accurately, including recovery during extraction and overall measurement accuracy. This isn’t for calibrating field instruments (that uses calibration standards), nor is it a blank (which would have no lead), nor a dry wipe (which relates to storage conditions). So describing a wet wipe spiked with lead to assess the lab’s analytical performance is the correct concept.