A harmonized European framework for method validation to support research on emerging pollutants

David Schwesig (1) , Ulrich Borchers (1) , Laure Chancerelle (2) , Valeria Dulio (2) , Ulla Eriksson (3) , Marinella Farre (4) , Anders Goksoyr (5) , Marja Lamoree (6) , Pim Leonards (6) , Peter Lepom (7) , Dean Leverett (8) , Anne O'Neill (8) , Rod Robinson (9) , Katarina Silharova (10) , Jaroslav Slobodnik (11) , Peter Tolgyessy (10) , Renaud Tutundjian (12) , Jan-Willem Wegener (6) , David Westwood (8)

1 IWW Water Centre
2 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
3 ITM - Department of Applied Environmental Science [Stockholm]
4 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas
5 UiB - University of Bergen
6 Institute for Environmental Studies
7 Labor fur Wasseranalytik
8 Environment Agency
9 NPL - National Physical Laboratory [Teddington]
10 VUVH Water Research Institute
11 Environmental Institute
12 Centre national du machinisme agricole, du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts

Any investigation of environmental processes related to chemical substances or their effects depends on reliable, comparable analytical data. This also holds true for the impact of climate change on occurrence, distribution and effects of emerging pollutants, with respect to which there is particular concern regarding the reliability of analytical data, due to lack of harmonization in method validation and requirements for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC). We present a recent European approach to developing a harmonized framework for method validation, QA/QC and provision of environmental data on emerging pollutants. The validation approach has been tested and improved by three case studies. We outline the main concept of the validation approach as well as the results of the case studies. This European validation framework turned out to be a feasible tool to check the fitness for purpose of analytical methods and to improve the reliability of environmental analytical data, particularly for emerging pollutants.

Keywords: EUROPEAN VALIDATION FRAMEWORK; EMERGING POLLUTANT; CLIMATE CHANGE; ANALYTICAL DATA; ENVIRONMENTAL DATA; FITNESS FOR PURPOSE; HARMONIZATION; METHOD VALIDATION; QUALITY ASSURANCE; QUALITY CONTROL

Domains: Ecotoxicology; Environmental Sciences

David Schwesig, Ulrich Borchers, Laure Chancerelle, Valeria Dulio, Ulla Eriksson, et al.. A harmonized European framework for method validation to support research on emerging pollutants. Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 2011, 30 (8), pp.1233-1242. ⟨10.1016/j.trac.2011.03.015⟩. ⟨ineris-00963311⟩