Trends in trace element determinations in environmental and food matrices: Conclusions of the workshop

The improvement and development of analytical techniques for the determination of trace elements in environmental and food matrices are one of the main challenges of analytical chemists nowadays. The need for a good quality control of these determinations has led the Measurements and Testing Programme (BCR) to organize series of intercomparisons and to produce certified reference materials (CRM's) for improving the quality of environmental and food matrices. At this stage, it was deemed necessary to discuss the research which should be undertaken to further improve the state of the art of trace element determinations and to develop new methodologies. A workshop on Trends in Trace Element Determinations in Environmental and Food Matrices has therefore been held in Thessaloniki in October 1994 which allowed to identify the research needs and make some recommendations based on round-table discussions. This paper gives a summary of the conclusions of the discussions. An outline of the programme along with the panel of experts participating in this workshop is given in the appendix.