Measurements that represented a major brealthrough in speciation science were those that had a link with identified toxicity risks, namely the determination of methylmercury in biological tissues (Minamata) and organotins in environmental matrices (oysters in the bay of Arcachon). Public awareness was associated with expressed needs from the laboratories with respect to quality control tools, and organisations such as the National Institute for Environmental Sciences, NIES (Japan) and the National Research Council, NRCC (Canada) started work on the organisation of interlaboratory comparison studies for these compounds during the 1980s. In the late 1980s (1988 and after) the European Commission, through the BCR program, also launched a series of projects aimed at the improvement of the quality of speciation measurements for chemical forms of Al, As, Hg, Pb, Se and Se in various biological and environmental matrices, along with extractable forms of trace metals in soils and sediments.

 

Resulting from these combined efforts, today a couple of certified reference materias are commercially available that at least serve as a good starting point for the quality control and development of speciation analysis.

 

The following table summarizes the availability of different materials (for extractable forms see the column "others"):

Matrix	Hg	As	Sn	Cr	Se	Pb	others
Aqueous solution
Natural water
Sea water
Sediment
Soil
Sewage sludge
Air particulate
Cement
Plant
Fish
Mussel, Oyster
Food supplement
Urine
Serum
Whole blood
Hair

* green boxes for available materials, dark blue boxes for non-available materials.
For more details click on the related green box.