Findings from quality assurance activities in the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network.
A series of experiments were conducted among the laboratories participating in the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) monitoring program to evaluate comparability of the reported persistent organic pollutant concentrations. This quality assurance activity is essential because a variety of methods are currently used for sample collection, extraction, and analysis by the IADN laboratories. The experiments included analyses of a common reference standard (CRS), analyses of split samples, and analyses of samples collected with co-located samplers at the Point Petre IADN measurement station. The analytes included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). For virtually all compounds, the laboratories produced generally comparable results for the CRS samples, the split samples and the co-location samples, although some differences were observed. Analysis of the methods may pinpoint areas where variations in the methods will result in the differences observed in the reported data. These differences can be due to the field sampling process, the analytical method, field blank values, or a combination of all these factors. This study points out the importance of QA activities at every step of an environmental monitoring process so that areas where improvements may be needed or where inconsistencies may exist can be identified.
Wu
Rosa
R
Air Quality Research Division, Science & Technology Branch, Environment Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada M3H 5T4.
Backus
Sean
S
Basu
Ilora
I
Blanchard
Pierrette
P
Brice
Kenneth
K
Dryfhout-Clark
Helena
H
Fowlie
Peter
P
Hulting
Melissa
M
Hites
Ronald
R
D002170:Canada; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000032:analysis*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D010575:Pesticides; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls