7.2. Way forward for small/medium-scaled urinary iodine laboratories

The current reference method for urinary iodine testing is the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, this instrument is most likely unaffordable by small/medium-scaled laboratories due to its high purchasing and maintenance costs. Even though there is high tendency of getting higher bias and deviation when using Sandell-Kolthoff method as compared to using ICP-MS, the small/medium laboratories can still obtain excellent performance by applying a closely-monitored quality management system in the laboratories as discussed in previous sections in this chapter. Decision to participate in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189 for Quality and Competence for Medical Laboratory will be a plus-point since it consists of all the elements of quality management and ensures quality in the results produced by the laboratory.
