This report has been produced as a formal deliverable under the DTI’s National Measurement System Valid Analytical Measurement (VAM) Programme. It describes the studies undertaken by LGC to evaluate procedures for the preparation of reference materials for out-of-laboratory environmental measurements made using test kits.
Procedures for preparing a moist ‘blank’ soil reference material and a moist soil containing spiked levels of organic contaminants have been successfully developed and prototype materials produced.
The suitability of these materials as quality control standards for field measurements has been demonstrated by using laboratory and field test kit analyses.