European Union Community Bureau

The organizer of an interlaboratory study to assign a quantity value to a reference material is usually a national or international certifying authority, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (United Nations), the Community Bureau of Reference (European Union), or a national measurement institute. 

The IUPAC/SCI/NPL programme on surface area standards examined a number of carbon blacks, activated charcoals, and silicas, and in the resulting publication [33] the results obtained in a number of laboratories were compared. As a result, two carbon blacks and two silicas lacking microporosity were accepted as standards. A major conclusion of this work, namely that outgassing conditions determine results obtained with high-area solids, was reinforced by the unsuccessful attempts made by the European Union s Community Bureau of Reference to obtain reproducible results with silica gels intended as reference standards [8e]. 

The diversity and complexity of the available approaches has identified the major difficulties associated with producing suitable guidelines that would allow comparisons between different laboratories and different countries in assessing metal mobility in the soil environment. This led to the development of single and sequential extraction procedures by the Standards, Materials and Testing (SM T - formerly the (European) Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) Programme of the European Union (1987)). Single extractants evaluated included 0.05 moll-1 EDTA, 0.43 moll-1 acetic acid, and 1 moll-1 ammonium acetate at pH 7. 

The Seveso Directive is administered by the European Union through the Major Accident Hazards Bureau services (MAHB) located within the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. The Bureau also oversees the European Community s Documentation Centre Industrial Risk (CDCIR) and manages the Major Accident Reporting System (MARS) with the aim to create a repository of information and facilitate the exchange between the members of the European Community. MARS follows the requirements of the Seveso II directive and collects information about major chemical incidents as well as the response and results. Member States are required to report the events by using standardized forms. 

European Commission, European Union Risk Assessment Report, 1st Priority List, Vol. 29, Dibutyl phthalate. Joint Research Centre Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, European Chemicals Bureau (ECB), Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003. 

Vogel, L, (1998). Prevention at the Worhplace the impact of Community Directives on preventive systems in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria and Switzerland, European Trade Union Technical Bureau fi>r Health and Safety, Brussels. 

Quevauviller P (1996) Atomic spectrometry hyphenated to chromatography for elemental speciation Performance assessment within the standards, measurements and testing programme (Community Bureau of Reference) of the European Union. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 11 1225—1231. 

Quality control is of the utmost importance in the case of mineral analyses because of the low concentrations of the elements normally found in foods and the ubiquitous presence of significant levels of many of them in the environment. In addition to the standard techniques of working in a clean laboratory to reduce the potential for accidental contamination to a minimum, it is essential that procedures be validated and results checked against appropriate certified reference materials (CRMs). CRMs for most of the trace and other minerals of interest in foods are available from international reference centers such as the Community Bureau of Reference of the European Union, the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States, and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. 

Vogel, L. (1993). Prevention at the Workplace. An initial review of how the 1989 Community Framework Directive is being implemented. Brussels European Trade Union Bureau for Health... 

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