The development of reference methods in clinical chemistry. The contribution of the Community Bureau of Reference of the Commission of the European Communities.

The use of reference method procedures in clinical chemical analysis is advocated by many experts as the most reliable approach to obtaining accurate results. The performance of such procedures must, however, be rigorous. This contribution will emphasize the importance of interlaboratory studies for this purpose. Examples will be presented, taken from the work done under the BCR programme of the Commission of the European Communities. The determination of steroid hormones in serum by isotope dilution mass spectrometry and the measurement of enzyme catalytic activities, according to IFCC recommended methods, will be discussed.