European Union laboratory data

In a farsighted move in 1989, the European Union laboratory IRMM started a series of interlaboratory comparisons to provide objective evidence for the degree of equivalence and the quality of chemical measurements by comparing a participant s measurement results with external certified reference values (IRMM 2006). At the time most proficiency testing schemes used consensus results for the mean and standard deviation to derive z scores. With the IMEP-1 analysis of lithium in serum, the world was alerted to the problem of lack of accuracy in analytical measurements. The data of the first IMEP-1 trial are replotted in figure 5.6 notice that the apparent outlier was the only laboratory to come close to the assigned value. 

The 22 papers of the symposium [1] were presented under the headings Theory, Laboratory Studies, Calorimetry (2 sessions), Applications. Several papers are devoted to individual instrumental methods of measuring and assessing potential for exothermic runaway reactions to develop. An issue of the Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries is devoted to a variety of, mostly calorimetric, studies of runaway reactions [2], The proceedings of a European Union Seminar in 1994 appear as a book, including hard data as well as debate about such matters as operator training [3],... 

One could say that this work was created in the laboratory but was born out of necessity. There has been a huge need for experimental data to support the harmonization of food packaging law in the European Union and to support the effort at streamlining approval of packaging materials coming into food contact in the United States. 

Historically, the United Kingdom and some other regulatory authorities have based EQS values on single-species tests and only used mesocosm data as corroborative evidence. Under the WFD, however, mesocosm no-effect data have recently been used directly to set a freshwater EQS for chlorpyrifos in the European Union, and similar action has been taken for atrazine in the United States (USEPA 2003a). It is clear that such data are more relevant to the natural environment than laboratory-based single-species tests. 

Many countries with strong interests in chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals and their trade started subsequently to adopt the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice as the basis for safety testing in their industries. The European Union (then still named the European Community) also, by the Council Directive 67/18/EEC of 18 December 1986, formally adopted the OECD Principles, including them within its framework of guidelines governing the submission of safety data for the marketing of chemical substances. 

We would like to thank all those colleagues who have contributed unpublished data (especially Dr. B. Oeser, Dr. G. Mey, J. Scheffer, P. Heidrich, S. Moore, S. Joshi, A. Fleissner, Y. Liibbe), T. Correia for the art work, and A. Kammerahl for typing the manuscript. The experimental work performed in our laboratory was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the European Union (TMR network CEREPAT ). 

A number of approaches have been used dealing with the difficult question how many ions are sufficient for an unambiguous identification. Sphon [42] used a simple approach using a (per definition) limited mass spectral library. He concluded that three ions were sufficient to distinguish DES from all other library entries. Many laboratories followed this three-ion approach. Within the European Union, a four-ion approach was officially adopted [43,44]. For the development of these criteria, the approach as described by Pesyna et al. [45] was used to estimate the chance for the occurrence of a steroid with that combination of four ions and their relative abundances based on data from mass spectral libraries. For nortestosterone, this chance, regarded as a chance for a false positive result, was estimated as 1 to 2.7 10 . 

European Union have conducted lead-free solder research programs supported by their national science foundations, companies, and national laboratories. Since 1982, the International Tin Research Institute (ITRI), now known as Soldertec, has performed research on lead-free solders, beginning with plumbing solders. Information on the Soldertec data can be found on at the... 

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