AIHA LAP E-News Fall 2025

Greetings AIHA LAP Accredited Laboratories and Stakeholders:

We hope that all is well and that everyone has had some downtime this summer. This year, AIHA LAP celebrates 15 years as an internationally recognized accreditation body, having signed the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement in 2010. Over the years, we have improved our knowledge of accreditation and conformity assessment to better serve our laboratory customers.

As we enter the Fall season, we are pleased to share updates and other information with you in this edition of the LAP E-News. Please let us know if you have questions or need our help with anything related to accreditation.

Happy Fall from the AIHA LAP team!

Cheryl O. Morton, Executive Director

AIHA LAP Award Winners Announced on World Accreditation Day 2025

This year, AIHA LAP formally solicited nominations from all LAP volunteers, site assessors and stakeholders using a survey form that required the nominee to provide detailed reasons for the award. A record number of robust nominations were received. Awardees were selected by the AAB Executive Committee and announced on World Accreditation Day, June 9, 2025.

The 2025 AIHA LAP awards recognize the following individuals, who have made exceptional contributions to AIHA LAP over the past 18 months.

Harriotte A. Hurley Award for Exceptional AAB Members

• Bob Lieckfield for leading the Modified Methods Guidance Work Group
• Frank Ehrenfeld for collaborating with the staff team and outside contractors to move the sensor testing accreditation project forward

Evan Campbell Award for Exceptional Site Assessors

• Chris Kearney and Eric Botnick for work on the revised EPA lead testing requirements and dust lead standard

Newton Whitman Award for Exceptional Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) Members

• Michael Breu for work on the revised EPA lead requirements and dust lead standard
• Mary Wainwright for her responsiveness and the quality of her TAP reviews

AIHA LAP thanks everyone who submitted nominations and congratulates the 2025 AIHA LAP Award Winners!

Important Deadlines Approaching for ELLAP Labs

As a reminder, the new dust lead standards went into effect on January 13, 2025, in all states under federal EPA’s jurisdiction (AK, AZ, FL, ID, MT, NV, NM, NY, SC, SD and WY). The compliance date—that is, the date upon which all NLLAP-recognized labs (ELLAP labs) must have made the necessary changes—is January 12, 2026.

Due to the lower lead dust levels, the EPA also made changes to the EPA Laboratory Quality Assurance Requirements (LQSR Version 4.0) that NLLAP-recognized labs (ELLAP-accredited) must follow. All ELLAP labs have until December 22, 2025, to be in full compliance with the new LQSR. The changes that will impact ELLAP labs the most are:

1. The laboratories must determine their method detection limit and then multiply that detection limit by at least 1.6 but no more than 10 to determine their reporting limit. The previous LQSR version 3.0 required a multiplier of 2-10x.
2. Under the new LQSR, laboratories’ reporting limits must be no more than 80% of the Dust Lead Action Levels. The EPA has defined the DLALs to be 5 µg/square foot for floors, and 40 µg/square foot for windowsills, and 100 µg/square foot for window troughs. If labs are to comply with the 80% rule, their reporting limit must be no higher than 4 µg/square foot for floors, 32 µg/square foot for windowsills, and 80 ug/square foot for window troughs.
3. Under LQSR V4, there is a requirement (ASTM E1583, part 13.2.10) for Lab reports to include a statement concerning measurement uncertainty.

All ELLAP laboratories are required to implement LQSR Version 4.0 by December 22, 2025. If your laboratory is not assessed this calendar year, you will receive an email along with an affidavit to sign indicating that your laboratory is in compliance with LQSR Version 4.0.

Please feel free to call us should you have questions about the affidavit or compliance with LQSR Version 4.

Updated Scope PT Table Released

AIHA LAP is pleased to announce that LGC AIR PT has been added for Ion Chromatography (IC) and Thermo-optical Analysis (TOA) under the IHLAP to the Scope/PT Table. The revised Scope/PT Table can be found on the Proficiency Testing Programs Page.

Modified Method Guidance Soon to be Released

In response to the growing number of laboratories listing methods as “modified” on their Form 2, the Analytical Accreditation Board is finalizing and will soon publish a Modified Method Guidance document that will help laboratories applying for accreditation and reaccreditation. The guidance will define when it is appropriate to cite a method as modified, which will help not only the laboratories but our site assessors when they review methods on site and the AAB when members review/approve applicants on the ballot. Look for the new guidance to be released before the end of the year.

The Laboratory Edition of The Synergist

The August edition of The Synergist magazine is the laboratory edition. All AIHA LAP accredited labs should have received a hardcopy of the magazine compliments of AIHA LAP.

AIHA members with access to the digital version of the magazine can click on the following links to review articles:

A Complex Process

Why Aren't There More Sampling and Analytical Methods for Airborne Chemicals?

By Derek Popp and Laura Parker

Protecting Researchers

Process Safety Concepts for Laboratory Operations

By Dennis Terpin

Ensuring Mobile Laboratories Produce Reliable Data

By Cheryl O. Morton

Labs Celebrating 50 Years of IH Accreditation

AIHA LAP celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2024 and recognized those laboratories first accredited by AIHA when the accreditation program was launched. Please

join us in celebrating two labs for achieving 50 years of accreditation in the Industrial Hygiene Program in 2025:

• Oregon OSHA Lab State of Oregon, Department of Consumer and Business Service (LAP-101823)
• The Hartford Risk Engineering Laboratory The Hartford Financial Services Group (LAP-100124)

Congratulations on 50 years of excellence!

Follow us on LinkedIn

We encourage you to follow AIHA LAP on LinkedIn, which is the only social media platform we use. We regularly post announcements about upcoming meetings, international program updates, newly accredited AIHA LAP labs and key milestones/ anniversaries. AIHA LAP likewise follows its labs and other stakeholders on LinkedIn to stay current on their activities and re-posts items that may be of interest to our accreditation body audience. Follow us on LinkedIn .

SITE ASSESSOR NEWS

More Site Assessors Sought

AIHA LAP continues to look for new assessors, whether available part-time or full-time. As an AIHA LAP site assessor, you will have opportunities to visit laboratory sites all over the world, auditing them to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and AIHA policies. We are encouraging qualified assessors who can audit food and cannabis testing laboratories to apply. AIHA LAP will provide the training needed using an improved training process that will focus more on auditing techniques. Training meetings are hosted yearly. If you would like more information or to inquire about the position, please contact Olena Bulgakova.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

New Global Accreditation Cooperation to Begin Operating in January 2026

In October 2024, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) approved the constitution and general rules to form a new global accreditation body. ILAC and IAF will be dissolved with the new organization assuming the roles of IAF and ILAC beginning in January 2026. In October 2025, AIHA LAP’s Cheryl Morton and Olena Bulgakova will join their accreditation body counterparts in Bangkok for what will be the last joint meeting of ILAC and IAF. Key voting and important decisions on the new global accreditation body will be made at the meeting. Over time, AIHA LAP will revise its accreditation certificates, which currently bear the ILAC mark, and will notify labs of any additional changes that it will make in 2026 to meet the requirements set forth by the new global body.

STAFF NEWS

Welcome New Staff:

We are pleased to announce that a new Accreditation Specialist, Supriya Bartaula, has joined the AIHA LAP Team. Supriya will be working directly with laboratories seeking accreditation and reaccreditation in addition to collaborating with the Team on LAP projects and enhancements. Supriya is a graduate of George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Along with her studies, she enjoys nature conservation work, which has given her interesting experiences with Kemp's Ridley Sea turtles, cuttlefish, and fruit flies. Please join us in welcoming Supriya!

NEWLY ACCREDITED LABS and PROGRAMS

AIHA congratulates the following initial labs and programs who joined our ranks since April 2025:

To review AIHA LAP’s full list of accredited laboratories, please visit our directory.