Analysis of the compliance with law limits: the role of the uncertainty associated with measurement results

This document was realised by a working group within the Environmental Agencies System (ISPRA / ARPA / APPA) in order to provide uniform rules, to be used when the law doesn't provide applicative rules.
In these cases, instead of directly compare the best estimate of the value of the property (measured value) with the limit value (upper boundary of acceptance) established by law, we can carry out the assessment of compliance by comparing the interval of acceptance with the interval of uncertainty associated with the best estimate of the "true value" of the analysed property. It is possible to take the following decisions, based on the results of this comparison: the matrix is consistent, hereinafter called "NON not consistent", or the matrix is not consistent.

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