Emerging needs for sustained production of laboratory reference materials

Many different analytes are determined on a daily basis in many different matrices and the quality control (QC) for these determinations requires the use of reference materials (RMs), not only certified RMs (CRMs) but also laboratory RMs (LRMs) for routine purposes (e.g. control charting). In some cases, such materials are not available and the possibility of producing them in-house has to be considered. This article provides two examples showing that LRMs can be prepared by following a systematic approach without a very complex infrastructure: fly ash from cement manufacture; and, contaminated estuarine sediment. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.