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An interlaboratory comparison on whole water samples

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Abstract

The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC requires monitoring of organic priority pollutants in so-called whole water samples, i.e. in aqueous non-filtered samples that contain natural colloidal and suspended particulate matter. Colloids and suspended particles in the liquid phase constitute a challenge for sample homogeneity and stability. Within the joint research project ENV08 “Traceable measurements for monitoring critical pollutants under the European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC”, whole water test materials were developed by spiking defined amounts of aqueous slurries of ultra-finely milled contaminated soil or sediment and aqueous solutions of humic acid into a natural mineral water matrix. This paper presents the results of an European-wide interlaboratory comparison (ILC) using this type of test materials. Target analytes were tributyltin, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ng/L concentration range. Results of the ILC indicate that the produced materials are sufficiently homogeneous and stable to serve as samples for, e.g. proficiency testing or method validation. To our knowledge, this is the first time that ready-to-use water materials with a defined amount of suspended particulate and colloidal matter have been applied as test samples in an interlaboratory exercise. These samples meet the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive. Previous proficiency testing schemes mainly employed filtered water samples fortified with a spike of the target analyte in a water-miscible organic solvent.

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Acknowledgments

The ENV08 project was funded by the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP). The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET, the European Association of National Metrology Institutes and the European Union. The authors would like to thank Andreas Buchholz (BAM) for the statistical analysis of the ILC data and Carine Fallot (LNE), Anaïs Rincel (LNE), Pablo Rodriguez-Gonzalez (University of Oviedo), J. Ignacio Garcia Alonso (University of Oviedo) and Pirjo Sainio (SYKE) for ILC measurements and helpful discussions. The participation of the following laboratories in the ILC is gratefully acknowledged: Administratia Nationala Apele Romane, National Laboratory (LN-AITM), Bucharest, Romania; Administration de la gestion de l’eau, Division du Laboratoire, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxemburg; Agenzia Regionale Protezione Ambiente Ligure, Dipartimento della Spezia, U.O. Laboratorio, La Spezia, Italy; APPA Trento, Settore Laboratori, Trento, Italy; ARPAM, Ascoli Piceno, Italy; ARPAM, Dipartimento Provinciale di Ancona, Ancona, Italy; CNR-IRSA Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque, Brugherio, Italy; Ramboll Analytics, Lahti, Finland; Regional Environmental Agency of Marche (ARPAM), Macerata Department, Macerata, Italy; RWS Laboratory, Lelystad, The Netherlands; Serbian Agency for Environmental Protection, Beograd, Serbia; and Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, Afdeling Rapportering Water, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Belgium. Acknowledgements are due to Hanne Leys who coordinated the shipments from IRMM. Irma Huybrechts and Diana Vernelen (also at IRMM) who cleaned all bottles and helped during packing and shipping of the samples are gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are finally due to Gerard Boom (TNO, Utrecht, NL), Guido Vanermen (VITO, Mol, BE) and the partners in the ENV08 consortium (BAM, LNE and PTB) who provided important information on homogeneity and stability on the testing parameters before preparation of the ILC samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BAM, Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany

    Janine Richter, Ina Fettig & Rosemarie Philipp

  2. JRC-IRMM, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg 111, 2440, Geel, Belgium

    Saioa Elordui-Zapatarietxe & Håkan Emteborg

  3. LNE, Laboratoire National de métrologie et d’essais, 1 rue Gaston Boissier, 75015, Paris, France

    Julie Cabillic, Enrica Alasonati & Fanny Gantois

  4. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Claudia Swart

  5. Chemistry Group Laboratory, Tubitak UME, National Metrology Institute, P.O. Box 54, 41470, Gebze-Kocaeli, Turkey

    Taner Gokcen, Murat Tunc & Burcu Binici

  6. Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Oviedo, Julián Clavería 8, 33006, Oviedo, Spain

    Andres Rodriguez-Cea

  7. Department of Environmental Sciences, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tea Zuliani

  8. Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Max-Planck-Straße, 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Adriana Gonzalez Gago & Daniel Pröfrock

  9. Finnish Environment Institute, Hakuninmaantie 6, 00430, Helsinki, Finland

    Marjaana Nousiainen

  10. Umweltbundesamt, Bismarckplatz 1, 14193, Berlin, Germany

    George Sawal

  11. Biroul Roman de Metrologie Legala, Sos. Vitan - Barzesti 11, sectorul 4, 042122, Bucharest, Romania

    Mirella Buzoianu

Authors
  1. Janine Richter
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  2. Saioa Elordui-Zapatarietxe
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  3. Håkan Emteborg
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  4. Ina Fettig
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  7. Fanny Gantois
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  8. Claudia Swart
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  9. Taner Gokcen
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  10. Murat Tunc
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  11. Burcu Binici
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  12. Andres Rodriguez-Cea
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  13. Tea Zuliani
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  14. Adriana Gonzalez Gago
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  15. Daniel Pröfrock
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  16. Marjaana Nousiainen
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  17. George Sawal
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  18. Mirella Buzoianu
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  19. Rosemarie Philipp
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosemarie Philipp.

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Richter, J., Elordui-Zapatarietxe, S., Emteborg, H. et al. An interlaboratory comparison on whole water samples. Accred Qual Assur 21, 121–129 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-015-1190-8

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