Launched in response to increasing concerns about contaminated land, this new range of soil quality control materials meets MCerts performance standards
With the UK Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCerts) performance standard for the chemical testing of soils due to be fully implemented by September 2004, LGC Promochem has announced a new range of soil quality control materials.
The MCerts performance standard for the chemical testing of soils is based on laboratory performance standard ISO 17025:2000, but has been adapted for more specific application to the chemical testing of soils.
With increasing concern about contaminated land, the Environment Agency (EA) has introduced the standard to provide all interested parties including laboratories, local authorities, consultants and members of the public, with assurance as to the reliability of the soil testing data.
From September 2004, only data from laboratories that have been accredited to ISO 17025 for MCerts will be accepted by the EA.
In March 2004 the EA and Ukas issued a briefing note further clarifying the key requirements of MCerts.
This stipulated that for internal quality control a minimum of 5% of samples must be quality control standards.
These can be certified reference materials, laboratory reference materials or spiked soils.
In response to demand from soil testing laboratories for a range of quality control materials to help meet these requirements, LGC took the lead and produced this new range of soil standards which are available from LGC Promochem.
LGC is the UK's national measurement institute for chemical and biochemical analysis.
It also delivers the valid analytical measurement (Vam) programme for the Department of Trade and Industry and maintains the UK's Chemical Calibration Facility.
In producing this new range of standards, the specification that LGC had to meet was for large volume quality control soils with textural classification information suitable for use as routine check materials or as spiking bases.
The homogeneity and stability of the materials had to be known and verified by an independent laboratory.
The three soil quality control materials in the range are clay soil, loamy sand soil, and sandy loam soil, and are available from LGC Promochem in units of two 250g in brown-amber glass bottles.
The materials were produced from samples of soil originating from Germany and had been characterised for their textural classification before being ground to less than 250um and homogenised.
They have indicative values for the majority of MCerts inorganic analytes and there is also some data on the PAH content.
Material homogeneity was assessed by a UK environmental laboratory and LGC will be responsible for ongoing stability studies.
