Preparation and characterization of organic calibration solutions for development of certified reference materials at the National Metrology Institute of Japan

Abstract

Certified reference materials (CRMs) are playing an increasingly important role in environmental monitoring in Japan. The National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ)/National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has been developing CRMs of organic calibration solutions since 2003, and has issued several NMIJ CRMs. The development of these materials was conducted at the NMIJ in cooperation with candidate material producers. The freezing-point depression method was principally adopted for assessment of the purity of starting materials to give reliable certified values. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC–FID) and/or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which are based on independent principles and whose levels of accuracy are well evaluated, were applied in combination with other methods to avoid any possible analytical bias. Purity assessment is outlined for two typical examples, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p′-DDD) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p′-DDT), which were used as starting materials for a CRM under development. Methods adopted for gravimetric preparation and ampouling of solutions were qualified and optimized to reduce the uncertainties of certified values due to these factors. Furthermore, a new experimental scheme for assessment of stability and preparation variation is proposed for the proper estimation of uncertainties.