THE EC STANDARDS, MEASUREMENTS AND TESTING PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF THE QUALITY-CONTROL OF WASTE ANALYSIS

Projects funded within the EC Standards, Measurements and Testing Prog ramme (SM&T) of the European Commission aim to contribute to the harmo nization and improvement of methods and measurements carried out withi n the European Union and hence to the comparability of data necessary for e.g. trade activities, monitoring of environment, food and health control, etc. This goal may be achieved by e.g. the organization of in terlaboratory studies and certifications of reference materials, the d evelopment of new methods and pre-normative research. Examples of proj ects undertaken in support of the quality of waste analysis are given in this paper, covering different aspects, namely interlaboratory stud y and certification of extractable trace metals in sewage sludge amend ed soil reference materials, pre-normative research for the characteri sation of stabilized waste (interlaboratory study), and development of field-measurement device for the monitoring of waste water quality; t his paper gives also an account of a network aimed at harmonising leac hing/extraction tests used for environmental risk assessment. Finally, the main topics of the workshop on Standards, Measurements and Testin g for Solid Waste Management are given in the annex, along with a list of participants. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.