By
E.A. Maier, European Commission, Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme (DG XII), Rue de la Loi 200, 1049 Brussels, Belgium
Ph. Quevauviller, Directorate XII, Commission of the European Communities, Bruxelles, Belgium
Description
The participation in interlaboratory studies and the use of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) are widely recognised tools for the verification
of the accuracy of analytical measurements and they form an integral part of quality control systems used by many laboratories, e.g.
in accreditation schemes. As a response to the need to improve the quality of environmental analysis, the European Commission has been
active in the past fifteen years, through BCR activity (now renamed Standards, Measurements and Testing Programme) in the organisation
of series of interlaboratory studies involving expert laboratories in various analytical fields (inorganic, trace organic and speciation
analysis applied to a wide variety of environmental matrices). The BCR and its successor have the task of helping European laboratories
to improve the quality of measurements in analytical sectors which are vital for the European Union (biomedical, agriculture, food, environment
and industry); these are most often carried out in support of EC regulations, industrial needs, trade, monitoring activities (including
environment, agriculture, health and safety) and, more generally, when technical difficulties hamper a good comparability of data among
EC laboratories. The collaborative projects carried out so far have placed the BCR in the position of second world CRM producer (after
NIST in the USA).
Interlaboratory Studies and Certification of Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis gives an account
of the importance of reference materials for the quality control of environmental analysis and describes in detail the procedures followed
by BCR to prepare environmental reference materials, including aspects related to sampling, stabilization, homogenisation, homogeneity
and stability testing, establishment of reference (or certified) values, and use of reference materials. Examples of environmental CRMs
produced by BCR within the last 15 years are given, which represent more than 70 CRMs covering different types of materials (plants,
biological materials, waters, sediments, soils and sludges, coals, ash and dust materials) certified for a range of chemical parameters
(major and trace elements, chemical species, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides and dioxins).
The final section of the book describes how to
organise improvement schemes for the evaluation method and/or laboratory performance. Examples of interlaboratory studies (learning scheme,
proficiency testing and intercomparison in support to prenormative research) are also given.
Included in series
Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry
Audience:
For university libraries, metrological institutes, accreditation bodies and institutes responsible for the organisation of proficiency
testing, and all laboratories (routine, private and research) involved in environmental analysis.
