How to estimate measurement uncertainty when quantifying pesticides

Within the particular context of food safety, the concentrations of pesticides that have been detected should absolutely be lower than the authorized maximum concentration level (MRL). In that respect, the availability of complete data is of the utmost importance for deciding whether a product is or is not compliant with the regulations in force. However, these concentrations only get their full meaning when they are considered in conjunction with their measurement uncertainty. As a matter of fact, that uncertainty reflects, with a certain confidence level, the spread of values that may reasonably be allocated to a measurement [1]. Several methods may be taken into consideration for estimating the measurement uncertainty related to a pesticide concentration, provided they are compliant when the GUM (guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement [2]) and the ISO 17025 standard [3].