Reference materials for the monitoring of the aquatic environment—a review with special emphasis on organic priority pollutants

Abstract

During recent years, the awareness of quality assurance and quality control in environmental analyses has constantly increased, especially due to the implementation of new guidelines and regulations at both the national and international level. Achieving comparable results by using certified reference materials is one of the primary concerns of the scientific community. As a result, there is a growing demand for certified reference materials to cover different matrices and pollutants. Moreover, these CRMs should be in close relationship to the determinants and target concentrations required by environmental bodies and European Directives as well. Supplementary information to this paper presents an inventory of reference materials available on the market from different suppliers against the priority pollutants listed in the Water Framework Directive. These CRMs cover matrices such as water, sediment and biota. The use of CRMs in relationship to appropriate analytical methods and relevant determinants is discussed and the need for matrix-CRMs, particularly for organic pollutants is emphasised. The use of proficiency testing schemes as an alternative for the lack of appropriate CRMs and future trends in the production of CRMs within the BCR framework are also discussed.

Recent developments of certified reference materials for road transportation

“…CRMs for organic compounds in water do not exist, mainly because of stability problems and the large sample volumes (mostly 1-2 L) necessary for single measurement, which complicates CRM distribution. Alternative concepts for production of water-based CRMs for organic trace analysis, based on "freeze-dried water", stabilization of pesticides in a starch rich matrix (pills which must be reconstituted), and spiking and matrix surrogate solutions, have been developed and are discussed elsewhere (Wells 1998;Gawlik et al 2001;Eljarrat and Barceló 2003;Bercaru et al 2003), although none of these alternatives has been commercialized.…”

Certified Reference Materials for Marine Monitoring

“…For instance, there are very few seawater CRMs available to laboratories required to determine WFD Annex X substances in coastal and transitional waters to assess compliance with EQSs (Bercaru et al ., 2003). Therefore, there is the necessity to produce new certified materials or certify already existing materials for those substances.…”

Toxicity of Reference Sediment Samples

“…As a result, there is a growing demand for certified reference materials to cover different matrices and pollutants. Moreover, these CRMs should be in close relationship to the determinants and target concentrations required by environmental bodies [10] . Like in chemical analysis a need for reference sediment has been strongly felt, to be included in toxicity determination for quality assurance.…”