AOAC GFA Stakeholder Program Meeting Book (August 27, 2023)

Current Definition

VIM4 Second Committee Draft Definition

3.16 Limit of detection (LOD): The lowest concentration or mass of analyte in a test material that can be distinguished from a true blank test material at a specified probability level (ISO 5725-1:1994).

detection limit limit of detection

value of the measurand, obtained by a given measurement procedure, for which the probability of falsely claiming the absence of a component in a material is β, given a probability α of falsely claiming its presence NOTE 1 The abbreviation LOD is sometimes used for referring to detection limit. NOTE 2 Detection limit is usually considered to be a performance characteristic of a particular measurement procedure. NOTE 3 The term “sensitivity” is discouraged for referring to detection limits.

See further details on how to determine LOD in section 6.5.