The EU is very concerned about its waters. The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC name the measurement quantities, the relevant measurement ranges and the measurement uncertainties which take priority. Furthermore, these directives stipulate quality assurance according to ISO 17025. Within the framework of the Network for Metrology in Chemistry in Germany, the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing and PTB maintain the necessary standards and organize interlaboratory comparisons. At PTB, the focus is on heavy-metal measurements. For this purpose, monoelement solutions are prepared as reference solutions for the SI-traceable determination of heavy metals (Cd, Ni, Pb, Hg) in drinking water as national standards. For the measurement of further pollutants, structures still need to be constructed; this applies, for example, to drug residues in order to account for the growing problem of resistance to antibiotics. A national reference laboratory – such as the German Environment Agency is for air pollutants – would make sense here.   

Participating department
3 Chemical Physics and Explosion Protection