Reference laboratory, environmental

NORMAN (2009) - 6th EU framework programme project (Network of reference laboratories and related organisations for monitoring and bio-monitoring of emerging environmental pollutants), http //www.norman-network.net... 

By the nature of its content, with contributions from experienced practitioners, the book aims to serve as a practical reference for researchers, post docs, PhD-students and postgraduates as well as risk assessors working on surfactants in environmental laboratories, environmental agencies, the surfactant industry, the water industry and sewage treatment facilities. Each chapter includes extensive references to the literature and also contains detailed investigations. The broad spectrum of the book and its application to environmental priority compounds makes it unique in many ways. 

To improve measurement capability of field laboratories, CENAM has also been offering a PT scheme, not only because there are few PT providers in Mexico, but also due to the need to promote traceable measurement by the use of reference value provided by CENAM. Following the successful implementation of a PT program for environmental measurement laboratory assessment made by authorities of three local governments [8], similar efforts have been made to promote among laboratories who could be considered in the future as reference laboratories in food, petrochemical, clinical [9] and industrial sectors. 

Table 1 Validation data for potable water reference materials - Environmental Laboratory Parameter (Pg/L) Result APHA method Study mean Accept, limits Score...

Salvador Fortaner European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM), Systems Toxicology Unit, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, VA, Italy Ellen Fritsche TUP, Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Heinrich-Heine-Universitdt Diisseldorf Dusseldorf Germany Cesare Galli Avantea, Laboratory of Reproductive Technologies, Cremona, Italy Fondazione Avantea, Cremona, Italy Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy... 

The permanent network proposal puts no restrictions whatsoever on membership of the future network. It would ideally embrace all interested stakeholders dealing with emerging substances - whether in studying their occurrence and effects or risk assessment and risk management. Still, the key members are expected to be mainly i) competent authorities/reference laboratories, i.e. institutes/organisations designated by the competent authorities at the national level to offer technical and scientific support in specific fields related to environmental protection ii) research centres and academia iii) industry stakeholders and iv) government institutions and standardisation bodies. 

The physical and health hazards associated with chemicals should be determined before working with them This determination may involve consulting literature references. Laboratory Chemical Safety Summaries (LCSSs), Matmal Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), or other reference materials (see also Chapter 3, section 3.B) and may require discussions with the laboratory supervisor and consultants such as safety and industrial hygiene officers. Every step of the waste minimization and removal processes should be checked against federal, state, and local regulations. Production of mixed chemical-radioactive-biological waste (see Chapter 7, section 7.C.1.3) should not be considered without discussions with environmental health and safety experts. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is the source of many of the standards used in chemical and physical analyses in the United States and throughout the world. The standards prepared and distributed by the NIST are used to caUbrate measurement systems and to provide a central basis for uniformity and accuracy of measurement. At present, over 1200 Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are available and are described by the NIST (15). Included are many steels, nonferrous alloys, high purity metals, primary standards for use in volumetric analysis, microchemical standards, clinical laboratory standards, biological material certified for trace elements, environmental standards, trace element standards, ion-activity standards (for pH and ion-selective electrodes), freezing and melting point standards, colorimetry standards, optical standards, radioactivity standards, particle-size standards, and density standards. Certificates are issued with the standard reference materials showing values for the parameters that have been determined. 

Charcoal Tubes Reference has been made earlier to adsorption, which is the property of some solid materials, such as activated charcoal, to physically retain solvent vapors on their surfaces. In environmental health testing, the adsorbed vapors are removed, generally with a solvent, in a laboratory. The solvent is then analyzed by physical methods (gas chromatography, etc.) to determine the individual compounds whose vapors, such as benzene, were present in the sampled air. Industrial atmospheric samples can be collected in small glass tubes (4 mm ID) packed with two sections of activated charcoal, separated and retained with fiberglass plugs. To obtain an air sample, the sealed ends of the tube are broken off, and air is drawn through the charcoal at the rate of 1 liter per minute by means... 

Unlike the other requirements, which only referred to inspection, test, and measuring equipment, this clause adds test facilities. Facilities include the equipment and the area or room in which it is kept or used. Test facilities are any room, area, or complex in which tests are carried out. Inspection, measuring, and test facilities include functional and environmental test laboratories, test and inspection chambers, calibration rooms. 

The symposium was designed to provide an overview of the current status of plutonium chemistry by practitioners in the various areas covered. The authors, drawn from U.S. and foreign universities and national laboratories, were encouraged to include review material to place their subjects in perspective, as well as to suggest what they believe to be productive directions for future investigation. We find it particularly useful that the contributions represent a mixture of fundamental as well as more applied environmental and process chemical research. Although we do not claim that this volume represents all areas of plutonium chemistry that are currently under active investigation, this collection does represent a reasonably broad and balanced view of the field. The contents of the volume should be useful as a reference both for those familiar with actinide chemistry and for those with limited interests who seek an introduction to the literature and current status in an area of plutonium chemistry. 

Kramer GN, Muntau H, Maier E, Pauwels J (1998) The production of powdered candidate biological and environmental reference materials in the laboratories of the Joint Research Centre. Fresenius J Anal Chem 360 299-303. 

Marchandise H, Vandendriessche S (1985) The Certification of the Impurity Contents (Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Ni, Sb, Se, Sn, Te, T1 and Zn) in Three Grades of Lead, Electrolytically Refined Lead BCR No 286, Thermally Refined Lead BCR No 287, Lead with Added Impurities BCR No 288. European Commission Report EUR 9665 EN. Community Bmeau of Reference, Brussels. Merry f (1995) Reference materials for monitoring nutrients in sea water environment, approach, preparation, certification and their use in environmental laboratories. Fresenius J Anal Chem 352 148-151. 

Leaver ME, and Bowman WS, (1994c) The CCRMP Experience The Preparation and Utilization of Environmental and Geochemical Reference Materials. Mineral Sciences Laboratories Division Report MSL 94-26 (J) Draft. CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa. 

A number of scientific journals regularly publish papers reviewing the state of the art in the RM business as well as original contributions on certification, inter-laboratory comparisons, and on RM/CRM applications. Table 8.2 lists the most popular and widely cited. The most prolific journals are Fresenius Journal, JAAS, Science of the Total Environment and Water, Air, Soil Pollution, all with around or even more than 50 papers mentioning reference materials from 1998 and 1999. Of these, Fresenius Journal led in 1998, with more than 80 papers. This was partly because it traditionally publishes, so far in six special issues, a series of papers presented at the International Biological and Environmental Reference Materials Symposia (BERM) series. The role and contribution of the BERM series of meetings is reviewed below. 

The Promochem Group was the first international specialist supplier of certified reference materials (CRMs) and pharmaceutical reference substances used in environmental, medical and trace element analysis. Their experience provides a viewpoint that echoes, reinforces and expands on many of the trends discussed above (Jenks 1997). From the middle of the 1980 s, sales of CRM by Promochem increased between 10 % and 20 % annually, depending on the market sector and application. Since then National and International Metrology Institutes, such as the now privatized U.K. Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC), the European and U.S. Pharmacopoeias, the E.U. IRMM and others have recognized that efficient distribution of RMs, backed by available technical support, is as important as production and certification. Thus, they have moved to spread their influence outside their national origins. The Web and e-commerce will continue to grow as major facilitators of better information dissemination and supply of CRMs. 

Institut de Recherches de la Siderurgie, France International Organization for Standardization ISO Council Committee on Reference Materials International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry Laboratory of the Government Chemist, UK, formerly NPL National Bureau of Standards, USA, now NIST National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, USA National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, UK Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies National Institute of Occup. Health, Oslo, Norway National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, formerly NBS,... 

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