Worldwide Interlaboratory Comparison on the Determination of Trace Elements in the IAEA-457 Marine Sediment Sample

The primary goal of the IAEA Environment Laboratories is to assist Member States in the use of both stable and radioisotope analytical techniques to understand, monitor and protect the environment. In this context, the major impact of large coastal cities on marine ecosystems is an issue of primary concern for the IAEA and the IAEA Environment Laboratories. The marine pollution assessments required to understand such impacts depend on accurate knowledge of contaminant concentrations in various environmental compartments. Through the IAEA Environment Laboratories, the IAEA has been assisting national laboratories and regional laboratory networks since the early 1970s through the provision of a reference material programme for the analysis of radionuclides, trace elements and organic compounds in marine samples. Quality assurance and quality control are two fundamental requirements to ensure the reliability of analytical results. Data that are not based on adequate quality assurance and quality control can be erroneous, and their misuse can lead to poor environmental management decisions. In this regard, the IAEA has a long history of organizing interlaboratory studies, which have evolved to include an increasing array of potential contaminants in the marine environment. Relevant activities comprise global interlaboratory comparison, regional proficiency tests, the production of marine reference materials and the development of reference methods for trace elements and organic pollutants analysis in marine samples. This publication summarizes the results of the IAEA-457 interlaboratory comparison on the determination of trace elements in a marine sediment sample