Certification of total mercury in a sea-water reference material, CRM 579†

Abstract

A wide range of certified reference materials is needed for the quality control of analyses performed in the frame of marine environmental programmes. As a response to this need, the Measurements and Testing Programme (formerly BCR) has conducted an interlaboratory project to certify the total mercury content of a sea-water reference material. This paper describes the preparation of the reference material, its homogeneity and stability studies and the analytical work performed for the certification of total mercury (1.85 ± 0.20 ng kg^–1).