Suomen ympäristökeskus

This part of ISO 5815 specifies the determination of the biochemical oxygen demand of waters by dilution and seeding with suppression of nitrification after 5 d incubation time.This part of ISO 5815 is applicable to all waters having biochemical oxygen demands usually between 3 mg/l and 6 000 mg/l. It applies particularly to waste waters. For biochemical oxygen demands greater than 6 000 mg/l of oxygen, the method is still applicable, but the errors caused by the necessary dilutions can influence the analytical quality of the test method. Then the results are to be interpretedwith circumspection.The results obtained are the product of a combination of biochemical and chemical reactions with participation by living matter which behaves only with occasional reproducibility. They do not have the rigorous and unambiguous character of those resulting from, for example, a single, well-defined, chemical process. Nevertheless, they provide an indication from which the quality of waters can be estimated.

This International Standard gives criteria for mass spectrometric identification of target compounds in water. This document is a guideline for the identification of molecules <1 200 Da. For identification of larger molecules additional investigations are recommended.This standard shall be used in conjunction with standards developed for the determination of the specific compounds. If the standards for analysing specific compounds give criteria for identification, those criteria shall be followed.

This document specifies the critical issues to address when developing in a laboratory a method for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of numerous organic compounds in water.

This document specifies a method for sampling, handling and extracting enchytraeids from terrestrial field soils as a prerequisite for using these animals as bioindicators (e.g. to assess the quality of a soil as a habitat for organisms). Basic information on the ecology of enchytraeids and their use as bioindicators in the terrestrial environment are included in the Bibliography. This document applies to all terrestrial biotopes in which enchytraeids occur. The sampling design of field studies in general is specified in ISO 18400-101. These details can vary according to the climatic/regional conditions of the site to be sampled and an overview on the determination of effects of pollutants on enchytraeids in field situations is given in Reference[6]. Methods for some other soil organism groups such as earthworms or arthropods are specified in ISO 23611-1, ISO 23611-2, ISO 23611-4 and ISO 23611-5. This document is not applicable for semi-terrestrial (i.e. living in or close to the pure water) soils and might be difficult to use under extreme climatic or geographical conditions (e.g. in high mountains). When sampling soil invertebrates, it is highly recommendable to characterize the site (e.g. concerning soil properties, climate and land use). However, such a characterization is not covered by this part of ISO 23611. ISO 10390, ISO 10694, ISO 11272, ISO 11274, ISO 11277, ISO 11461 and ISO 11465 are more suitable for measuring pH, particle size distribution, C/N ratio, organic carbon content and water holding capacity.