[Quality Management for Biomonitoring of Smoking Harmful Effects]

The "biomonitoring for exposure to tobacco smoke" program is designed to monitor the levels of direct or indirect exposure to tobacco smoke among Koreans and evaluate the effectiveness of smoking cessation policies. This program measures 11 biomarkers, including nicotine metabolites, alkaloids, and heavy metals, in urine samples collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Quality management is crucial for ensuring the high reliability of measurement results within the overall analysis system. Key components of quality management include internal and external quality controls, inter-laboratory comparisons, assessments of measurement fundamentals, reproducibility evaluations, and on-site assessments. Quality management also involves assessing the relevance of analysis system controls, adherence to guidelines, routine quality control, and participation in international proficiency testing, all overseen by a Quality Management evaluation committee. Thus, institutions involved in the biomonitoring for exposure to tobacco smoke must ensure the appropriateness of their analytical performance by understanding and adhering to quality control guidelines.