Development of interlaboratory comparison test samples and reference materials for the quality assurance of air composition measurements

Introduction. The article presents an approach to the development of interlaboratory comparison test samples and respective reference materials for use in the metrological assurance of measurements of hazardous substances in the ambient air. Materials and methods. Solid and liquid sorbents, as well as air filters were used in the experiments. Measurement methods comprised photometry, atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Results. An optimized algorithm for developing multi-purpose test samples that can be used for the metrological assurance of a large number of methods for analysing ambient air is presented. Discussion and conclusions. The described approach has been used to develop test samples for laboratory proficiency testing and respective reference materials, which can be used in the certification of procedures for analysing ambient air quality, calibration of measurement instruments, as well as in the internal and external quality control of results obtained during ambient air quality measurements.

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