A new environmental certified reference material (CRM) for the determination of multielements in aerosol particulate matter has been developed and certified by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, based on analyses by a network of laboratories using a wide range of methods. The origin of the material was atmospheric particulate matter collected on filters in a central ventilating system in a building in Beijing city centre. The homogeneity and stability of this material were sufficient for its use as a reference material. Values for elemental mass fractions in the material were statistically determined based on the analytical results of the participating laboratories. Eighteen certified values and 14 reference values were obtained. The diameters, obtained from a micrographic image using image analysis software, of 99% of the particles were less than 10 microm, demonstrating that almost all the particles in the material could be classified as particles of 10 microm or less in aerodynamic diameter. The chemical composition and particle size distribution of this material were close to those of an authentic aerosol collected in Beijing. NIES CRM 28 is appropriate for use in analytical quality control and in the evaluation of methods used in the analysis of aerosols, particularly those collected in urban environments in northeast Asia.
A candidate environmental certified reference material (CRM) for the determination of multielements in tea leaves and materials of similar matrix, NIES CRM No. 23 Tea Leaves II, has been developed and characterized by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan. The origin of the material was tea leaves, which were ground, sieved through a 106-microm mesh, homogenized, and then subdivided into amber glass bottles. The results of homogeneity and stability tests indicated that the material was sufficiently homogeneous and stable for use as a reference material. The property values of the material were statistically determined based on chemical analyses by a network of laboratories using a wide range of methods. Sixteen laboratories participated in the characterization, and nine certified values and five reference values were obtained. These property values of the candidate CRM, which are expressed as mass fractions, were close to the median and/or mean values of the mass fractions of elements in various tea products. The candidate CRM is appropriate for use in analytical quality control and in the evaluation of methods used in the analysis of tea and materials of similar matrix.
An interlaboratory study of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) certified reference material (CRM) No. 28 Urban Aerosols collected from the filters of a central ventilating system in a building in the Beijing city center from 1996 to 2005 was performed to obtain an information value of the Sr isotopic composition. The Sr isotopic composition was measured using multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) to confirm the CRM’s within- and between-bottle homogeneity, and the results showed a 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.710227 ± 0.000019 (2SD, n = 18). The Sr isotopic compositions were intercompared using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), which showed good agreement with values obtained at NIES. Subsequently, a consistent 87Sr/86Sr ratio was observed between two dissolution (hotplate vs. high-pressure bomb) and Sr separation (Sr spec resin vs. cation exchange resin) methods. To validate and reproduce the accuracy of our analytical methods, the Sr isotopic compositions of secondary reference materials, JB-1b and JA-2, were also measured. Our results showed that NIES CRM No. 28 is appropriate for the quality control of Sr isotope measurements of particulate matter analyses for environmental and geochemical studies.
A new environmental certified reference material (CRM) has been developed by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) to support research and development studies on trace heavy metals in landfill cover soils.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.