Suomen ympäristökeskus

 

This document provides the information needed to assess the condition over time of a unionid population, and the level of information for assessing whether a plan or project may be detrimental to their future prospects. It provides guidance on methods for survey and monitoring unionid mussel populations and the environmental characteristics important for maintaining populations in favourable condition. The document is based on best practice developed and used by unionid mussel experts in Europe, and describes approaches that individual countries have adopted for survey, data analysis and condition assessment. Standard methods for restoring populations are not within the scope of this document.

 

This document specifies requirements and recommendations for the design and execution of an interlaboratory comparison for validation of new standardized analytical methods in the field of water analysis, e.g. the number of participating laboratories and time schedules. This document is based on ISO 5725-1 and ISO 5725-2. NOTE The scope of other standards in the field of interlaboratory comparison, such as ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO 13528, is proficiency testing of analytical laboratories and not interlaboratory comparison for the validation of analytical methods.

 

This document specifies a method for the enumeration of intestinal enterococci in water. The method is based on the growth of target organisms in a liquid medium and calculation of the “Most Probable Number” (MPN) of microorganisms by reference to MPN tables or using informatic programs. The test described in this document relies upon the detection of intestinal enterococci based upon expression of the enzyme ß-D-glucosidase. This method provides a confirmed result in 24 h with no requirement for confirmation of positive wells. This method can be applied to a range of types of water (for example, drinking water, bathing water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater), including those containing an appreciable amount of suspended matter and high background counts of heterotrophic bacteria. For marine waters, enterococci are best enumerated using diluted samples.

 

This document specifies a method for the enumeration of intestinal enterococci in water, including Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus gallinarum, Enterococcus hirae, Enterococcus casselifavus. The method is based on the growth of target organisms in a liquid medium and calculation of the “most probable number” (MPN) of microorganisms by reference to MPN tables or using suitable MPN informatic programs. This method can be applied to drinking water and bathing water (fresh or marine), together with other similar water types including those containing an appreciable amount of suspended matter, and allows the detection of enterococci at 1 colony-forming unit (CFU) per 100 ml with definitive results within (26 ± 2) h in the presence of heterotrophic bacteria in numbers as high as 1 × 106 per 100 ml of sample. For bathing waters, fresh and marine, enterococci are best enumerated when samples are diluted 1:10. The test specified in this document relies upon the detection of intestinal enterococci based upon expression of the enzyme ß-D-glucosidase and provides a confirmed result in 24 h without further testing of positive wells. This document does not apply to bottled waters, for which the method has not been validated and therefore is outside the scope of this document, unless appropriate validation of performance of this method has been undertaken by the laboratory prior to use.

 

This standard is designed for the simultaneous analysis of multi-class pesticide residues in soil using GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS analysis following extraction with acetonitrile and buffering salts mixture, and cleanup via dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE). The standard includes 30 target analytes listed in Table 1. This document can be applicable to other pesticide residues if their validity is confirmed. Under the specified conditions in this document, a limit of quantitation (LOQ) less than 0,1 mg/kg (expressed as dry matter basis) can be achieved for the target analytes (refer to Annex C).

 

This document specifies a method for quick measurement of soil temperature using an infrared (IR) thermometer. The method is applicable to a variety of technical fields, including geology, geotechnics, biology and agricultural sciences, as well as climate change studies and metrological investigation.

 

This document specifies the general requirements for the in vitro amplification of nucleic acid sequences (DNA or RNA). This includes polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods like quantitative PCR, qualitative PCR, reverse transcription-PCR and digital PCR. The minimum requirements laid down in this document are intended to ensure that comparable and reproducible results are obtained in different organizations. It covers quality assurance aspects to be considered when working with PCR-based methods in a laboratory as well as validation and verification. In addition to laboratory PCR-based methods, this document is also applicable to on-site PCR-based methods. This document is applicable to PCR-based methods used for the analysis of microorganisms and viruses in different water matrices, including but not limited to: This document is applicable to the detection and quantification of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) of microorganisms by PCR-based methods in water such as bacteria, yeasts, fungi but also parasites such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, amoebas and multicellular organisms. In addition, this document is applicable to the detection and quantification of nucleic acids from viruses in water by PCR-based methods.

 

This document specifies methods for quantitative determination of seven selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB28, PCB52, PCB101, PCB118, PCB138, PCB153 and PCB180) in soil, sludge, sediment, treated biowaste, and waste using GC-MS and GC-ECD (see Table 2). The limit of detection depends on the determinants, the equipment used, the quality of chemicals used for the extraction of the sample and the clean-up of the extract. Under the conditions specified in this document, lower limit of application from 1 µg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for soils, sludge and biowaste to 10 µg/kg (expressed as dry matter) for solid waste can be achieved. For some specific samples the limit of 10 µg/kg cannot be reached. Sludge, waste and treated biowaste may differ in properties, as well as in the expected contamination levels of PCB and presence of interfering substances. These differences make it impossible to describe one general procedure. This document contains decision tables based on the properties of the sample and the extraction and clean-up procedure to be used. NOTE            The analysis of PCB in insulating liquids, petroleum products, used oils and aqueous samples is referred to in EN 61619, EN 12766-1 and ISO 6468 respectively. The method can be applied to the analysis of other PCB congeners not specified in the scope, provided suitability is proven by proper in-house validation experiments.