Pitfalls of Using Non-Standard Standards
Oral Presentation
Prepared by M. Bruce1, D. Weir2
1 - TestAmerica, 4101 Shuffel St NW, North Canton, OH, 44720, United States
2 - TestAmerica, 880 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento, CA, 95605, United States
Contact Information: mark.bruce@testamericainc.com; 330-966-7267
ABSTRACT
The majority of analytes that commercial environmental laboratories determine have been on the regulatory lists for many years. Thus, there are a wide range of reference material providers that provide these standards. These providers can supply high purity primary and second source standards that are well documented and readily available for reasonable cost.
At the opposite end of the frequency of request spectrum are the analyte requests that are related to a single client, site or incident. These might be emerging contaminants that researchers have identified as contaminants of interest, but are not broadly regulated. In some instances the chemicals were used at a particular location and improperly disposed or accidentally released. Determining these infrequently requested analytes still requires standards for instrument calibration and quality control. However, the usual sources of reference materials might not have the same quality level of standards available or none at all.
These non-standard standards include metals species (methyl mercury), pharmaceuticals (testosterone), personal care products(Triclosan), PTFE containing products (perfluorocarbons) and industrial use chemicals (4-methylcyclohexane methanol). There are a wide variety of issues that might be encountered when searching for and purchasing these less common standards. These issues include: primary source, secondary source, purity (claimed and actual), match to what was released into the environment, quantity available, degradation and stability, interaction with other analytes, documentation, mislabeling and legal requirements for possession.
In addition to looking at the general pitfalls in greater detail, we examine several case study examples.
Oral Presentation
Prepared by M. Bruce1, D. Weir2
1 - TestAmerica, 4101 Shuffel St NW, North Canton, OH, 44720, United States
2 - TestAmerica, 880 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento, CA, 95605, United States
Contact Information: mark.bruce@testamericainc.com; 330-966-7267
ABSTRACT
The majority of analytes that commercial environmental laboratories determine have been on the regulatory lists for many years. Thus, there are a wide range of reference material providers that provide these standards. These providers can supply high purity primary and second source standards that are well documented and readily available for reasonable cost.
At the opposite end of the frequency of request spectrum are the analyte requests that are related to a single client, site or incident. These might be emerging contaminants that researchers have identified as contaminants of interest, but are not broadly regulated. In some instances the chemicals were used at a particular location and improperly disposed or accidentally released. Determining these infrequently requested analytes still requires standards for instrument calibration and quality control. However, the usual sources of reference materials might not have the same quality level of standards available or none at all.
These non-standard standards include metals species (methyl mercury), pharmaceuticals (testosterone), personal care products(Triclosan), PTFE containing products (perfluorocarbons) and industrial use chemicals (4-methylcyclohexane methanol). There are a wide variety of issues that might be encountered when searching for and purchasing these less common standards. These issues include: primary source, secondary source, purity (claimed and actual), match to what was released into the environment, quantity available, degradation and stability, interaction with other analytes, documentation, mislabeling and legal requirements for possession.
In addition to looking at the general pitfalls in greater detail, we examine several case study examples.
