TY - JOUR A1 - Sichler, Theresa Constanze A1 - Adam, Christian A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Sauer, Andreas A1 - Ostermann, Markus A1 - Barjenbruch, M. T1 - Phosphorus determination in sewage sludge: comparison of different aqua regia digestion methods and ICP-OES, ICP-MS and photometric determination N2 - Phosphorus recycling from sewage sludge will be obligatory in Germany from 2029. Phosphorus content determination in sewage sludge is crucial to assess the prescribed recycling rates. Currently, German law regards sample preparation using aqua regia digestion in a microwave or under reflux conditions as well as instrumental phosphorus determination by ICP-OES, ICP-MS, or photometric determination with ammonium molybdate as equivalent. However, it is questionable whether these methods are indeed equivalent regarding phosphorus quantification in sludges near the limit of 20 g/kg for mandatory recycling. To answer this question, 15 sewage sludges of 11 different wastewater treatment plants were investigated with all permitted method (digestion and measurement) combinations. Moreover, one sewage sludge was also examined in an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) with 28 participants. This study shows that the above-mentioned methods differ in some cases significantly but across all method combinations and sludges, phosphorus recovery was between 80 and 121% after normalization to the grand mean (average of 15 sludges between 85 and 111%). The ILC and the examination of 15 sludges produced largely similar results. There is a tendency to higher phosphorus recovery after microwave digestion compared to reflux digestion and ICP-OES measurements determine higher phosphorus contents than ICP-MS and photometric phosphorus determination. As a result, the authors recommend ICP-OES determination of phosphorus in sewage sludge after microwave digestion. KW - Sewage sludge KW - ICP-OES KW - Phosphous recovery KW - ICP-MS KW - Photometric P determination KW - Interlaboratory comparison PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-558869 VL - 34 IS - 99 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55886 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Dorgerloh, Ute A1 - Sauer, Andreas A1 - Hofmann, Andrea T1 - Quality control in extended measurement campaigns: selection of contract laboratories by proficiency testing exemplified for the trace analysis of anilines in groundwater N2 - An interlaboratory comparison for the determination of aniline, nine methylated anilines and chlorinated anilines in contaminated groundwater (each compound between 1 µg L-1 and 750 µg L-1) was conducted as proficiency test for the selection of contract laboratories for a groundwater monitoring campaign. For the 13 participants, two different test sample series were prepared from a stabilized real case groundwater. Series A was the groundwater as sampled in the field and series B was prepared from series A by spiking with selected anilines. Homogeneity and stability investigations revealed that contaminated groundwater provides a viable basis for the preparation of ring test samples for the determination of anilines. Analytical procedures were limited to the standardized liquid–liquid extraction or solid-phase extraction in combination with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (DIN 38407-16:1999). The robust consensus values were evaluated according to the standardized protocol of DIN 38402-45:2013. Robust reproducibility standard deviations ranged largely between 20?% and 60?% depending on the analyte. The proficiency assessment of individual participants combined the qualitative aspect of correct peak identification with the quantitative determination of individual concentrations within set limits in a unified approach. It could be shown that the accreditation status of laboratory and the existence of a standardized analytical procedure do not substitute a problem-related proficiency assessment of potential contractors. KW - Aniline KW - Chloroanilines KW - Methylanilines KW - Groundwater KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Proficiency test PY - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-014-1072-5 SN - 0949-1775 SN - 1432-0517 N1 - Geburtsname von Sauer, Andreas: Buchholz, A. - Birth name of Sauer, Andreas: Buchholz, A. VL - 19 IS - 5 SP - 371 EP - 376 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-31756 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Sauer, Andreas A1 - Bremser, Wolfram T1 - Fifteen years of proficiency testing of total petrol hydrocarbon determination in soil: a story of success N2 - The total petrol hydrocarbon (TPH) content in soil is determined by gas chromatographic separation and flame ionisation detection according to ISO 16703 in routine laboratories for about 20 years. The development of the interlaboratory variability observed with this analytical procedure over 15 years in a proficiency testing scheme conducted annually with more than 170 participants is evaluated in detail. A significant improvement of the reproducibility standard deviation among participants is observed over the years and attributed to an increasing familiarity with the procedure. Nevertheless, the determination of TPH in the environmentally relevant mass fraction range between 500 mg/kg and 10 000 mg/kg in soils or sediments is far from reaching the reproducibility standard deviations predicted by the Horwitz curve. It is seen that laboratories with sporadic participation tend to report higher bias, while a core group of laboratories participating on a regular basis arrived at reproducibility standard deviations below 20 %. Results from a given laboratory obtained on two different samples tend to be highly correlated in the same PT round indicating a sound repeatability. Expectedly, the within-laboratory correlation between results from consecutive rounds was considerably lower. However, results from consecutive rounds with a temporal distance of 1, 2 or 3 years revealed largely similar correlations which suggests that the within-laboratory reproducibility adjusts to a constant level at least after a period of 1 year. KW - Mineralölkohlenwasserstoffe KW - Boden KW - Ringversuch KW - Gaschromatographie KW - GC-FID KW - Eingnugsprüfung KW - Proficiency Testing PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-019-01383-x SN - 0949-1775 SN - 1432-0517 VL - 24 IS - 4 SP - 289 EP - 296 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-48419 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -