title: Certification of a reference material of metal content in atmospheric particles deposited on filters.
abstract: Air quality is one of the areas in Europe where a series of EU Directives have been published with the aim of achieving improved long-term and harmonised air quality objectives across the European Union. This paper describes the production of a certified reference material, aiming to support QA/QC programmes of analytical laboratories in the framework of the air quality monitoring activities. The certified values are the As, Cd, Ni and Pb masses in PM10 particles deposited on quartz filters (CRM SL-MR-2-PSF-01). All the steps of the certification, i.e. the material characterisation, homogeneity and stability evaluation and uncertainty calculation, were performed according to the ISO guide 35 guidelines. The certification was conducted using the characterisation by a single method approach based on isotope dilution for cadmium, nickel, and lead and gravimetric standard addition calibration for arsenic associated with inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The amounts of the four elements are in the range of the target values regulated by EU Directives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Inorganic Chemistry, Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d'Essais (LNE), 1 Gaston Boissier, 75724, Paris Cedex 15, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oster
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Labarraque
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fisicaro
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D002138:Calibration; D005062:European Union; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D009532:Nickel / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D011865:Radioisotope Dilution Technique; D012015:Reference Standards
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D052638:Particulate Matter; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D009532:Nickel; D001151:Arsenic