Abstract
Within the scope of a project of the “European Association of National Metrology Institutes” (EURAMET), a European metrological dissemination system (network) providing traceable reference values assigned to matrix materials for validation purposes is described and put to the test. It enables testing laboratories (TL) to obtain comparable results for measurements under the “EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC” (WFD) and thus, to comply with a core requirement of this very directive. The dissemination system is characterized by the fact that it is available to all laboratories throughout Europe which intend to perform measurements in the context of the WFD and that it can ensure sustainable metrological traceability to the International System of Units (SI) as a reference point for the measurement results. This dissemination system is set up in a hierarchical manner and links up the level of the national metrology institutes (NMI) with that of the TLs via an intermediate level of calibration laboratories (CL) by comparison measurements. The CLs are expert laboratories with respect to the measurement of the analytes considered here (within the project, the CLs are called potential calibration laboratories (PCL)) and are additionally involved in the organization of comparison measurements within the scope of regional quality assurance (QA) systems. Three comparison measurements have been performed to support the approach. A total of about 130 laboratories participated in this exercise with the focus on the measurement of the priority substances Pb, Cd, Hg, and Ni defined in the WFD. The elemental concentrations in the water samples roughly corresponded to one of the established environmental quality standards (EQS), the annual average concentration (AA-EQS), which is defined in the daughter Directive 2008/105/EC of the WFD. It turned out that a significant number of TLs still need to improve their measurement methods in order to be able to fulfill the minimum requirements of the WFD, in particular, with regard to the elements Cd and Hg probably due to their low EQS values. Furthermore, it became obvious that the hierarchical dissemination system suggested here actually corresponds to the measuring capabilities of the three participating groups (NMIs, PCLs, and TLs).
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Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to Dr. W. Richter, the former Head of the Department of “Metrology in Chemistry” of the PTB for his critical review of the paper, for useful discussions and especially for setting the seed for the dissemination concept realized within this project as far back as 15 years ago. In particular, we appreciated the participation of expert laboratories that were ready to act as PCLs in our project (Table 2). Furthermore, we thank the numerous European TLs for their participation. Many thanks to Marie-Philippe Seiller from BIPEA, France, for the support provided in the organization of the third step of the project and also many thanks to the NMIs of Chile (CMQ) and Australia (NMIA) for participating in a European project.
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Schiel, D., Rienitz, O., Jährling, R. et al. Metrological concept for comparable measurement results under the European water framework directive: demonstration of its applicability in elemental analysis. Accred Qual Assur 16, 489–498 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-011-0792-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-011-0792-z