Improvements of Speciation Analyses in Environmental Matrices

The release of some organometallic compounds and other chemical forms of elements in the environment has led to great international concern because of their high toxicity. The validation of the analytical techniques became of paramount importance which led the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) to decide on the organisation of a series of projects for the improvement of the quality of speciation analyses. In addition, it was found useful to discuss thoroughly the different sources of error likely occurring in speciation analyses and a workshop was organized for this purpose; the aim of this workshop was to discuss the state of the art of speciation determinations, to define use, applicability and necessity of determinations of element species, to investigate where limitations exist and discuss the work necessary to overcome these and to detect where techniques have sufficiently been developed to produce reliable and valuable results. This paper presents the organization of the workshop, its main issue and describe the state of the current BCR projects on speciation.Abbreviations AAS Atomic absorption spectrometry - CVAAS Cold vapour AAS - DPP Differential pulse polarography - ECD Electron capture detector - ETAAS Electrothermal AAS - FIA Flow injection analysis - FID Flame ionisation detector - FLUOR Spectrofluorimetry - FPD Flame photometric detector - GC Gas chromatography - HG Hydride generation - HPLC High performance liquid chromatography - HPLC-AES HPLC atomic emission spectrometry - INAA Instrumental neutron activation analysis - ICPAES Inductively coupled plasma AES - MS Mass spectrometry - QFAAS Quartz furnace AAS - RNAA Neutron activation analysis with radiochemical separation