[Analytical quality assurance in environmental medicine - experiences by a quality circle in Baden-Württemberg]

Abstract. In connection with the implementation of the study "Sentinel Health Departments" which was performed in 1992 in Baden-Württemberg by the Landesgesundheitsamt (LGA) the importance of Analytical Quality Protection (AQP) in the environmental medicine was emphasized. In 1994 the LGA established a quality circle in Baden-Württemberg (BW) in the area of the human biomonitoring. In 1998 the area of responsibilitiy was expanding and the quality circle was occupied with the "Biological Indoor Pollution" and the "Chemical Indoor Pollution" as well. In 2000 a group of members of the Sozialministerium BW, the Landesärztekammer BW and the four Kassenärztliche Vereinigungen of Baden-Württemberg was set up at the LGA. In 2001 the working group "Länderarbeitsgruppe umweltbezogener Gesundheitsschutz" (LAUG) intends to establish a project team which is called "Certification in the realm of the Human Biomonitoring". The coordination will be effected by the LGA. Until now the work of the qualitiy circle led to an improvement of the comparability of the results of the different laboratories and to a more realistic assessment of the uncertainty of the results referring to the environmental medical examinations.