TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Nehls, Irene A1 - Dorgerloh, Ute T1 - Interlaboratory comparisons - demonstrating degree of equivalence JF - Accreditation and quality assurance N2 - The role of matrix reference materials in the process of demonstrating the degree of equivalence of measurement results obtained from intercomparisons is outlined, reviewing exemplary selected experience gained at BAM regarding the determination of organic contaminants in environmental matrices. The specific characteristics of reference materials employed in the process of demonstrating equivalence between laboratories in the course of proficiency testing as well as the development, comparison and validation of methods are elaborated. The demand is for series of appropriately characterised samples which are fit for the purpose and it is seen from representative examples that the utilisation of such tailor-made RM designed to tackle the specific need of an analytical problem dominates over certified matrix reference materials in this context. Concluding, the role of certified matrix reference materials in quality assurance is briefly looked at both from the user’s and providers’ points of view. KW - Certification KW - Equivalence KW - Method development KW - Proficiency testing KW - Reference materials PY - 2003 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-003-0580-5 SN - 0949-1775 SN - 1432-0517 VL - 8 SP - 150 EP - 155 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-2848 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köppen, Robert A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Investigation of extraction procedures and HPLC-DAD/MS for the determination of the brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A bis(2,3-dibromopropylether) in environmental samples JF - Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry N2 - A method for the determination of the novel brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A bis(2,3-dibromopropylether), 1,1'-(isopropylidene)bis[3,5-dibromo-4-(2,3-dibromo-propoxy)-benzene] (TBBPA-dbpe), was developed. Technical TBBPA-dbpe was purified and the results of a thorough physical characterisation are reported. The application of APCI-MS is discussed and the fragmentation patterns are described. Quantification of TBBPA-dbpe was done by HPLC-DAD using external calibration. The validation of the method was accomplished using sediment and sewage sludge samples spiked with defined amounts of authentic TBBPA-dbpe. The average recovery rates of TBBPA-dbpe from spiked samples ranged from 35 to 91% (sediment) and from 57 to 98% (sewage sludge) depending on the respective extraction method. Pressurised fluid extraction (PFE) and fluidised bed extraction were superior to classical Soxhlet and sonication procedures and yielded recovery rates between 90 and 98% with relative standard deviations of 2%. The limits of detection (DTC), identification (ID) and determination (DTM) using HPLC-DAD were 10, 21 and 30 ng g-1 in sediment and 22, 44 and 72 ng g-1 in sewage sludge, respectively. KW - Extraction KW - TBBPA-dbpe KW - Sewage sludge KW - Sediment KW - LC-MS KW - Mass spectrometry KW - APCI KW - HPLC-DAD PY - 2006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0339-z SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 384 IS - 7-8 SP - 1485 EP - 1492 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-12255 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Buge, Hans-Gerhard A1 - Bremser, Wolfram A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Mineral oil content in sediments and soils: comparability, traceability and a certified reference material for quality assurance JF - Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry N2 - The performance of twelve laboratories with previously established proficiency in the determination of the mineral oil content in a fresh water sediment is described. The summation parameter total petrol hydrocarbon (TPH) is defined according to ISO 16703:2004 with regard to the sample preparation to be applied, the flame ionisation detection (FID) and the boiling range of C10–C40 to be integrated. Comprehensive tests of homogeneity and stability have been carried out on the candidate material using appropriate models. The outcome of the study served as the basis for the certification of the candidate reference material as ERM-CC015a. The certified mass fraction is 1,820±130mgkg-1 and traceability was established by using an appropriate calibration standard certified for the mass fraction of C10–C40. The interlaboratory scatter of measurement results in this exercise can largely be explained by the variability of the individual calibrations based on this common calibration standard. KW - Total petroleum hydrocarbons KW - Extraction KW - Gas chromatography KW - Calibration KW - Interlaboratory study PY - 2006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0423-4 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 385 IS - 3 SP - 645 EP - 651 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-12399 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Koch, Matthias A1 - Lehnik-Habrink, Petra A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Quantification of polychlorinated biphenyls in plastic granulates from the recycling of cables - Reference materials and interlaboratory comparison JF - Chemosphere N2 - A procedure for the quantification of the PCB marker congeners 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180 in plastic waste form the recycling of cables in the range of content between 0.1 mg kg-1 and 20 mg kg-1 was validated. Representative reference materials for laboratory analyses were produced using granulates from different recycling processes. The method development included aspects of grinding, sieving, homogenising as well as the comparison of extraction methods and chromatographic conditions. The validated procedure foresees grinding of the technical sample to an upper particle size limit of 0.50 mm followed by extraction with an unpolar solvent such as n-hexane and gas chromatographic determination. LOD and LOQ for individual congeners ranged between 0.01 mg kg-1 and 0.08 mg kg-1. Electron capture detection (ECD) and mass selective detection (MS) were equivalent if chromatographic conditions were appropriately selected. The application of MS was advantageous in presence of significant amounts of interfering components which have been found in some cables. Three reference materials containing the marker congeners in the range of 0.1 mg kg-1–5 mg kg-1 were submitted to a final validation intercomparison with 23 selected field laboratories using the developed method. Relative reproducibility standard deviations varied between 15% and 33%. KW - PCB KW - Waste KW - Analysis KW - Method validation KW - Standardisation PY - 2006 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.02.035 SN - 0045-6535 SN - 0366-7111 VL - 65 IS - 9 SP - 1652 EP - 1659 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Kidlington, Oxford AN - OPUS4-14050 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Buge, Hans-Gerhard A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - The determination of adsorbable organically bound halogens (AOX) in soil: interlaboratory comparisons and reference materials JF - Accreditation and quality assurance N2 - The interlaboratory variability in the quantification of adsorbable organically bound halogens (AOX) in industrially contaminated soil is presented. Three consecutive rounds of a proficiency testing scheme, in which between 88 and 119 routine laboratories participated, yielded relative reproducibility standard deviations between 7 and 20% at AOX contents between 10.9 and 268 mg kg-1. Nineteen laboratories with established proficiency were invited to participate in the certification of the AOX content in three soil reference materials meant for the internal quality control in analytical laboratories. The certified values are (1349 ± 59) mg kg-1, (80 ± 7) mg kg-1 and (102 ± 8) mg kg-1, respectively. KW - Certified reference materials KW - European Reference Material KW - Proficiency testing KW - Organohalogen compounds KW - Summation parameter PY - 2007 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-007-0308-z SN - 0949-1775 SN - 1432-0517 VL - 12 IS - 12 SP - 647 EP - 651 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-16670 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köppen, Robert A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Enantioselective Preparative HPLC Separation of the HBCD-Stereoisomers from the Technical Product and Their Absolute Structure Elucidation Using X-Ray Crystallography JF - Chirality N2 - 1,2,5,6,9,10-Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a widely used flame retardant, which tends to persist in the environment and accumulates in biota. The six stereoisomers (three racemates named α-, β-, and γ-HBCD) of the technical mixture were isolated with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Direct separations were performed on a chiral stationary phase containing permethylated -cyclodextrin (NUCLEODEX -PM column) and the pure enantiomers of α-, β-, and γ-HBCD were physically characterized for the first time. The absolute configurations of all six isomers were determined by anomalous dispersion using single crystal X-ray crystallography. Optical rotations αD in tetrahydrofuran were +4.2/-4.0 (α-HBCD), +26.1/-27.5 (β-HBCD), and +68.0/-66.3 (γ-HBCD). The sense of rotation could be correlated with the absolute configurations of α-, β-, and γ-HBCD enantiomers and their order of elution on a chiral permethylated β-cyclodextrin-bonded stationary phase. The diastereomers α-, β-, and γ-HBCD displayed distinctly different melting points as well as 1H-, 13C NMR, and IR spectra. KW - Brominated flame retardant KW - Chiral separation KW - Anomalous dispersion KW - Crystal structures KW - Optical rotation KW - Absolute configuration PY - 2007 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chir.20366 SN - 0899-0042 SN - 1520-636X VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 214 EP - 222 PB - Wiley-Liss CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-14718 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dorgerloh, Ute A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Determination of volatile organic sulfur compounds in contaminated groundwater JF - Environmental chemistry letters N2 - A practical method for the quantification of total purgeable organic sulfur (POS) in highly contaminated groundwater is described. Volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSC) are purged from the water samples by a stream of oxygen and combusted. The emerging sulfur dioxide is absorbed in H2O2 and converted to sulfate which is quantified by ion chromatography and reported as mass sulfur equivalent. The overall limit of quantification is 0.03 mg l–1. The content of POS is balanced with the total VOSC determined by GC-AED after liquid–liquid extraction. Separate determination of the non-volatile organic sulfur compounds by direct combustion of the water sample and adsorption to charcoal yielded a mass balance of the total sulfur content. Semi-quantitative GC-MS after purge & trap accumulation revealed that the VOSC mixture is composed of C1–C4 alkyl sulfides. The implementation of the developed methodology for the quantification of VOSC as potential catalyst poison in a cleaning plant for groundwater contaminated with volatile haloorganics (VOX) is presented. KW - Contamination KW - Remediation KW - Summation parameter KW - Combustion KW - Ion chromatography KW - GC-AED KW - GC-MS PY - 2008 UR - http://www.springerlink.com/content/8612g42hwj7130g8/fulltext.pdf DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-007-0117-y SN - 1610-3653 SN - 1610-3661 VL - 6 IS - 2 SP - 101 EP - 106 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-16360 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köppen, Robert A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - On the thermally induced isomerisation of hexabromocyclododecane stereoisomers JF - Chemosphere N2 - The interconversion of the stereoisomers contained in technical 1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane, a major brominated flame retardant increasingly found in the environment and in biota, was investigated at elevated temperatures. The application of pure enantiomers of the three constituents α-, β-, and γ-HBCD enabled the unambiguous elucidation of the individual isomerisation reactions as well as the quantification of all respective rate constants. At 160 °C the rate constants range over two orders of magnitude from 1.50 × 10-3 to 1.88 × 10-5 mol(%) s-1. A preliminary mechanistic explanation for the differences of the rate constants which govern the composition of HBCD diastereomers at equilibrium is given. KW - Flame retardant KW - Diastereomers KW - Enantiomers KW - Rearrangement KW - Kinetics KW - HBCD PY - 2008 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.11.009 SN - 0045-6535 SN - 0366-7111 VL - 71 IS - 4 SP - 656 EP - 662 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Kidlington, Oxford AN - OPUS4-17753 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Esslinger, Susanne A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Müller-Belecke, A. A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Bioisomerization of HBCD: Results of feeding experiments with pure Gamma-HBCD enantiomers T2 - Dioxin 2009 - 29th International symposium on halogenated persistent organic pollutants / Organohalogen compounds (Proceedings) N2 - 1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), a widely used flame retardant, is an ubiquitous contaminant in the environment. Still, only little is known about the distribution and behavior in the environment such as bioaccumulation or biotransformation of HBCD stereoisomers. In order to investigate enrichment and possible bioisomerization of HBCD stereoisomers, Mirror Carps were exposed to pure (+)- and (-)-γ-HBCD, randomly sampled after a predefined specific period and subjected to enantiomer-specific determination of α-, β-, and γ- HBCD. No evidence for the isomerization of HBCD stereoisomers was observed in Mirror Carp fillets. T2 - Dioxin 2009 - 29th International symposium on halogenated persistent organic pollutants / Organohalogen compounds CY - Beijing, China DA - 2009-08-23 PY - 2009 UR - http://www.dioxin20xx.org/pdfs/2009/09-103.pdf VL - 71 SP - 000487 EP - 000492 CY - Beijing, China AN - OPUS4-21187 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Köppen, Robert A1 - Esslinger, Susanne A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Hexabromcyclododecan in heimischen Süßwasserfischen JF - Nachrichten aus der Chemie N2 - Hexabromcyclododecan senkt als Flammschutzmittel die Entflammbarkeit von Polymeren und verhindert damit Brände. Als persistente Verbindung reichert es sich in der belebten und in der unbelebten Umwelt an und steht daher im Fokus öffentlichen Interesses. PY - 2009 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/nadc.200967612 SN - 1439-9598 SN - 1521-3854 VL - 57 IS - 9 SP - 901 EP - 904 PB - Wiley-VCH Verl. CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-19911 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -