With water being the most used reagent in any laboratory analysis, experts have called for the need to understand its importance in obtaining perfect test results and the processes of its purification, to meet Nigerian and global laboratory standards.

 

The experts who spoke at a one day workshop in Lagos for stakeholders in laboratory analysis, organised by Katchey Company Limited, a leading laboratory supply firm in Nigeria, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Merck Pharmaceuticals and Life Science Limited, said there was need for all laboratories in the country to use quality water in their analysis in other to minimise preventable data errors.

 

With the theme: “Innovative Solutions for Production of Pure and Ultrapure Water in the Laboratory,” the participants were exposed to water purification fundamentals- water contaminants, water purification techniques, water quality monitoring, amongst others.

 

In his speech, the Director General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, who was represented by the agency’s Director, Laboratory Services, Engr. Louis Njoku, said the lack of use of quality water and other standard practices by most Nigerian laboratories, was the reason laboratory products face rejection globally, adding that if the world must take Nigeria seriously, everyone need to start doing things the right way.

 

According to him, “when the right water is not used for laboratory analysis, there would be high possibility of obtaining wrong laboratory results, which in turn would affect what the results were meant to achieve,” he said.

 

He therefore called on players in the industry to follow laid down standards and not to cut corners. “Those who cut corners will be cut and then asked to face the law, meaning on the long run, it does not pay to cut corners,” he stressed.

 

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, Katchey Company Limited, Mrs. Kate Isa, expressed optimism that the workshop would help in re-orientating lab managers and make them implement changes that will be of immense benefits to the country.

 

 

She said it was high time Nigeria started doing things the right way, as the country was no longer in isolation. “We are the biggest economy in Africa, so the world is interested in us. We can no longer do things the way we used to, we need to start playing by the rules, because we are now connected to the rest of the world. And so, for the businesses of these participants to survive, they have to do the right things.

 

According to her, “water is the most widely used and critical reagent in the lab, yet it is the most unappreciated reagent in the lab, with the thinking that it is just a common reagent, forgetting that the water must be very pure for it to be used in the lab for standard analysis,” she said.

 

Kate noted that there were situations where some labs and clinics use air condition water, seaway or other portable water for analysis, adding that this must be discouraged. “Even though the water is good for drinking, it is not good enough for laboratory analysis because there is no way the result from the test will be correct,” she said.

 

She said one big disadvantage of this was the fact that patients will be treated based on incorrect results occasioned by the type of water used.

 

Kate decried the lack of adherence to analytical standards by several Nigerian laboratories, explaining that only few labs in the country use the right water for their analysis.

 

“What we need to correct this anomalies is education, information, capacity building just like this workshop,” adding that quality water and equipments in producing them can be gotten in Katchey Company Limited.

 

The guest speaker from Merck Millipore, Dr. Maurice Memmi, noted that nothing can be built on nothing. “If the right water is not used for analysis, there is no way the right results can be gotten, even if other equipments are good,” he added.

 

He called on laboratory managers in the country to make usage of quality water in their labs priority, as it is a basis to achieving standard products from the lab.

 

By Martins Ifijeh

This Day