The results of trueness verification for blood lead measurement were analyzed in a 2016 nationwide external quality
assessment (EQA) survey, in order to evaluate current approaches of blood lead measurement in Chinese Laboratories and
their traceability to certified reference materials (CRMs). A panel of 2 frozen whole blood CRMs with values assigned by
an absolute quantitative method was provided to 12 laboratories with satisfactory performances from the 2015 blood lead
EQA scheme. Participants were required to measure the samples 5 times each day for 3 consecutive days and report all 15
data, which were then calculated for means and standard deviations. Data were statistically analyzed by adopted method
groups, before comparing with the assigned values to assess the trueness of blood lead measurement using different
approaches. Eleven laboratories reported on schedule, rendering a reporting rate of 91.7 %. The target values for the two
batches were (37.6 ± 2.7) lg/L and (124.6 ± 4.5) lg/L, respectively. By the evaluation criterion of target value
± 20 lg/L, the pass rates were 72.7 % for the lower concentration and 54.5 % for the higher concentration, while 5 out of
11 laboratories delivered satisfactory results for both CRMs. The overall performance of the few participating laboratories
in this EQA survey was basically acceptable by CLSI standard on the whole, yet barely desirable for the higher concentration. Therefore, trueness verification of blood lead measurement with CRMs is potentially necessary for national
EQA schemes, which can be imperative as part of the validation procedures of analytical methods in clinical settings.