Standard Reference Materials in the Former Soviet Union and Russia: Historical Aspects

The history of the developments and applications of standard reference materials (SRMs) in the former Soviet Union and Russia (late in the 19th and early in the 20th centuries), as well as in other countries, were considered. Data on the organization of research, on methodological concepts of the SRM quality assurance, and on the optimization of a triad—normative documents (standards) regulating the composition of materials (substances), standards for the procedures of quantitative analysis, and required SRMs—were given. Persons who primarily contributed to solving the problem under discussion were mentioned. As immediate tasks of importance, the development of international SRMs, the intercomparison of national SRMs for determining their interchangeability, and the optimization of the assortment (number of types) of SRMs indispensable and sufficient (irredundant) for the analysis of particular samples were considered.