Project Details:
Evaluation of measurement procedures and QA/QC for PCDD/F, PCB and PAHs in environmental matrices (air quality, soil, sediments and wastes) used in estimation of global pollution
| Project No.: | 2009-007-2-300 |
| Start date: | 2009-11-01 |
| End date: | |
| Division: | Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division |
Many regulations aim to reduce PCDDD/F, PCB, PAHs release in the environment and require the establishment of time trends and spatial distribution. To this end, adequate measurements procedures and QA/QC requirements are needed. This proposal aims to review the existing measurement procedures and the results from relevant proficiency testing schemes, to identify the main critical issues and propose concrete measures for improvement.
This will be useful for establishing relationships between chemical productions and new green technologies, particular relevant for fast-developing Countries.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), following requirements in article 16, establishes a global monitoring system to prove effectiveness of the implementation of its measures by establishing time and spatial trends with the goal to prove a 50% decline of POPs concentrations in relevant matrices within 10 years. Such a system requires measurements results (metrological) comparable and compatible in time and space.
Existing official measurement procedures don’t seem to assure performances adequate to monitor spatial and time variability. Moreover, national legislation or guidelines often do not detail the QA/QC requirements, e.g., with respect to measurement uncertainty and limit of quantification.
The project foresees:
- Survey of the existing measurement procedures for different environmental matrices (air, soil, sediments and wastes);
- Identification of the quality performance criteria of the measurement procedures (limit of detection, robustness, precision data, uncertainty estimation, etc.);
- Harmonization of related definitions, e.g., signal-to-noise, limit of quantification, limit of detection, etc.;
- Review of the existing proficiency testing schemes and their compliance with international standards and guidelines (IUPAC, ISO, ILAC);
- Check of availability of CRM/RMs for quality assurance and method validation (matrix matching, concentration ranges, metrological traceability of the assigned values, etc.);
- Summary of the critical aspects identified and proposal of recommendations to improve the monitoring data for the intended use.
The Task group members (Dr. Raccanelli-INCA, Dr. van Bavel-MTS, Dr. de Zorzi-ISPRA) are responsible for the organization of proficiency testing schemes on PCDD/F, PCBs and PAHs in environmental matrices, (such as Circuito INtercalibrazione Diossine-CIND, www.incaweb.org, www.intercal.se, www.eptis.bam.de). Dr. Fiedler (UNEP) established a database on the laboratories involved in POPs’ measurement. Effective measurement procedures could be also provided for industries to control the release of POPs, inviting them to consider the use and/or the development of greener processes to reduce or prevent the release of these (Buxing Han, Chair of the IUPAC SubCommittee on Green Chemistry, Division III).
The agreement of the project outcomes with previous IUPAC Recommendations and/or technical reports, specifically addressed to metrological issues, will be checked and assured by the participation in the task group of Dr. de Zorzi, Chair of the IUPAC Interdivisional Working Party on Harmonization of Quality Assurance (IWPHQA).