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Interlaboratory studies

Building the capacity of laboratories in Europe and globally by systematic organisation and initiation of international Collaborative Trials is part of the regular activities of the NORMAN network. More than 20 Collaborative Trials have been organised by NORMAN since 2006 on a wide range of methods, including non-target screening in water, sediment, indoor dust and biota, in vitro and in vivo bioassays and passive sampling. Based on the needs identified by the NORMAN community, these studies represent a crucial step for the scientific community and for environmental agencies for validation and harmonisation of innovative sampling and monitoring tools before their possible future implementation in regulations.

List of activities

Topic Event Programme Deadline Reports
Topic: Norman Interlaboratory Comparison Study Microplastics in Water Soluble Tablets in collaboration with ISO and PlasticTrace.

Organised by:
 
  • Interlaboratory Trial
  • July 2024 - December 2024
 
 
June: Announcement
July: Registration closes 1st of August: Tablets a are distributed to participating labs
8th of October: Deadline reporting
4th of November: Deadline for data analysis
End of Nov/beginning of Dec: On-line workshop
3rd-4th December: Presentation Norman General Assembly
 
Topic: Norman Interlaboratory Comparison Study Microplastics on instrument and software identification in collaboration with PlasticTrace.

Organised by:
 
  • Interlaboratory Trial
  • July 2024 - December 2025
 
 
June: Announcement
July: Registration closes
1st of August: Sandwich filters are distributed to participating labs
8th of October: Deadline reporting
4th of November: Deadline for data analysis
End of Nov/beginning of Dec: On-line workshop
3rd-4th December: Presentation Norman General Assembly
 
 
Topic: NORMAN Collaborative Trial 2024-2025 - Non-target screening of airborne organic substances in PDMS-foam passive samplers
Organized by:
 
  • Interlaboratory trial   
  • October 2024 - February 2025    
 
 
Announcement: 6 June 2024 
Deadline for registration: 15 July 2024
Shipment: October 2024 
Deadline for submission of results: February 2025   
 
  • Results from each participant should be registered in an Excel reporting template distributed to all participants.
  • The template with the results should be returned electronically by February 30th, 2025

Topic: WEPAL-QUASIMEME Interlaboratory Study on the Analysis of Microplastics in Environmental Matrices

Organised by:

Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE) at Vrije Universiteit, O|2 Lab building, Van der Boechorstraat 3, 1081 BT Amsterdam, Netherlands; WEPAL-QUASIMEME Laboratory Performance Studies at Wageningen University & Research, PO Box 8005, 6700 EC Wageningen, Netherlands; and NIVA - Norwegian Research Institute for Water Research, Økernveien 94, 0579 Oslo, Norway

  • ROUND 2024 - Development Exercise DE 17

Flyer

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 1 June 2024

Final report: 1 February 2025;

Webinar to discuss results: mid February 2025 

Topic: Interlaboratory trial PT 5/24 - TW S11 - halocetic acids

Organised by:

AQS Baden-Württemberg at Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, University of Stuttgart, Bandtäle 2, 70569 Stuttgart-Büsnau, Germany and IWW Water Center, Moritzstr. 26, 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

  • Interlaboratory trial

Announcement

Registration

Announcement: 11 March 2024

Deadline for registration: 5 April 2024

Shipment: 4 June 2024

Entry deadline: 24 June 2024

 

Topic: Interlaboratory trial PT 8/24 - TW S5 - sulfonyl urea herbicides

Organised by:

AQS Baden-Württemberg at Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, University of Stuttgart, Bandtäle 2, 70569 Stuttgart-Büsnau, Germany and IWW Water Center, Moritzstr. 26, 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

  • Interlaboratory trial
 

Announcement: 24 June 2024

Deadline for registration: 12 July 2024

Shipment: 10 September 2024

Entry deadline: 30 September 2024

 

NORMAN Collaborative Trial 2023-2024 - Intercomparison of Ion mobility separation data - Development of open-access CCS databases for IMS

Organised by:

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), Environmental Institute (Slovak Republic), University Jaume I (Spain) and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences of Vienna (Austria)

  • June 2023 – Dec 2024

Invitation letter

Deadline for registration: 15 June 2023

 

Proficiency Test PT 7/22 TW S4 – PFAS according to EU drinking water directive

Organised by:
AQS Baden-Württemberg at Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, University of Stuttgart, Bandtäle 2, 70569 Stuttgart-Büsnau, Germany and IWW Water Center, Moritzstr. 26, 45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

  • Proficiency Test
  • July 2022
   

Report

PFAS analytical exchange - TOP Assay Method Comparison
 
Organised by: Environment Agency (UK) In collaboration with
University of the Basque Country, Vito NV, Fraunhofer IME, Örebro University, Wageningen University & Research, Luleå University of Technology, German Federal Environment Agency, The French National Centre for Scientific Research

  • International Exchange
  • April – October 2022

Questionnaire

Deadline for questionnaire: 19 October 2022

Report Published April 2023

Proficiency Test 2/22 - TW S7 – Trifluoroacetic acid in drinking water

Organised by: AQS Baden-Württemberg at Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, University of Stuttgart, Bandtäle 2, 70569 Stuttgart-Büsnau, Germany

  • Proficiency Test
  • February 2022
 

Deadline for registration: 23 December 2021

Deadline for the dispatch: 22 February 2022

Deadline for reporting: 14 March 2022

Report

PFAS suspect HRMS lists and lists of PFAS-containing products activity organised as a part of the NORMAN JPA 2022 by QAEHS – the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Science, The University of Queensland, Australia; IRSA-CNR - Water Research Institute of the National Research Council of Italy and University of Amsterdam, The Netherland

  • Survey 
  • Workshop Interlaboratory study

Programme and Survey

4 December 2022

 

Collaborative Trial on Passive air sampling and wide-scope suspect/non-target screening for organic substances in indoor and outdoor air

Organised by: NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NO), Stockholm University (SE), Aarhus University (DK) in collaboration with Environmental Institute (SK), and University of Athens (GR)

  • Interlaboratory study
  • September 2022/December 2023

Invitation letter and registration link

Deadline for registration: 1 August 2022

 

QUASIMEME/EUROqCHARM/NORMAN Interlaboratory Study on the Analysis of Microplastics in Environmental Matrices (3rd round)

Organised by: QUASIMEME/EUROqCHARM

  • Collaborative Trial (3rd round)
  • Apr 2022 - July 2022

Flyer and registration form

Deadline for registration: 1 April 2022

(Not available yet)

Workshop in Amsterdam at the VU University 15 September 2022

PFAS Analytical Exchange

Organised by: Environment Agency (UK) in collaboration with Aarhus University (DK), Finnish Environment Institute SYKE (FI), IWW Water Centre (DE), Norwegian Environment Agency (NO), Örebro University (SE), University of the Basque Country (ES), VITO NV (BE), Wageningen Food Safety Research (NL)

  • International Exchange
  • May – December 2021

Link to questionnaire

Deadline for questionnaire completion: 20 September 2021

Report

Collaborative trial on (semi-) quantitative non-targeted analysis with LC/ESI/HRMS

Organised by: Stockholm University, Sweden and University of Athens, Greece

  • Interlaboratory study
  • October 2020 / January 2021

Invitation and programme

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 30 October 2020

 

Proficiency test 5/20

TW S3 - TW S4 – PFC in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory study
  • September 2020

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 24 July 2020

Report

QUASIMEME/NORMAN Interlaboratory Study on the Analysis of Microplastics in Environmental Matrices (2nd round)

Organised by: QUASIMEME

  • Collaborative Trial (2nd round)
  • Sept 2020 - Jan 2021

Flyer with the invitation and the application form

Deadline for registration: 1 September 2020

Report

The report of the workshop

Proficiency test 3/20

TW S3 - Alkylphenols in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory study
  • April/May 2020

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 21 February 2020

Report

2nd NORMAN Collaborative Trial for Non-target and suspect screening of organic contaminants in indoor dust

Organised by: Umeå University (SE) in collaboration with NILU (NO), Antwerpen University (BE), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL) and Environmental Institute (SK)

  • Interlaboratory study
  • September 2020/February 2021

Invitation letter
and registration link

 

Deadline for registration: 30 September 2020

 

Proficiency test

Microplastics in drinking water and sediments

Organised by: JRC (IT) and BAM (DE)

  • Interlaboratory study
  • Autumn 2019

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for expression of interest: 1 September 2019

 

Proficiency test 5/19

TW S2 -  Pharmaceuticals in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory study
  • September 2019

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 12 July 2019

 

QUASIMEME/NORMAN Interlaboratory Study on the Analysis of Microplastics in Environmental Matrices (1st round)

Organised by: QUASIMEME

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • April 2019 - Nov 2019

Invitation letter

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 12 April 2019

Report

Publication

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - on Suspect screening in biota

Organised by: SLU (SE), Stockholm University (SE), Umea University (SE) and Environmental Institute (SK)

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • September 2019 - Nov 2020

Invitation letter

Registration

Deadline for registration: 10 April 2019

Report

 

Proficiency test 3/19

TW S1 -  Sweeteners and benzotriazoles in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • April 2019

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 15 February 2019

Report

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - on bioassays for neurotoxicity testing

Organised by: RWTH Aachen University (DE)

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • September 2018 - December 2018

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 14 September 2018

 

Proficiency test 8/18

TW S6 – X-ray- and MRT-contrast media in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • September 2018

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 24 July 2018

 

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - Extraction of engineered nanomaterials from complex matrices - an interlaboratory comparison study

Organised by: UFZ (DE)EAWAG (CH)Uni Koblenz-Landau (DE)

  • Workshop in September 2018 followed by interlaboratory study
  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • November 2018 - March 2019

Invitation letter

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 31 August 2018

 

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - Bioassays for genotoxicity testing

Organised by: KWR (NL)

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • July 2018 - November 2018

Invitation letter

Deadline for registration: 15 June 2018

Report

Proficiency test 5/18

TW S7 - Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • June 2018

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 13 April 2018

Report

Proficiency test 3/18

TW S5 – Sulfonylurea herbicides in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • March 2018

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 12 January 2018

Report

Proficiency test 6/17

TW S4 – PFC in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • October 2017

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 14 July 2017

Report

Proficiency test 2/17

TW S3 – Alkylphenoles in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study 
  • March 2017

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 23 Dec 2016

Report

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - Detection and quantification of polar compounds by means of chromatography (quantitatively and qualitatively)

Organised by: TUM (DE), KWR (NL)UoA (GR)

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • September 2016 - October 2016

Invitation letter

 

Deadline for registration: 5 Aug 2016

 

Proficiency test 5/16

TW S2 – Pharmaceuticals in drinking water 

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round) 

  • 11 Oct 2016 - 7 Nov 2016

Invitation letter

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 1 Jul 2016

Report

Proficiency test 2/16

TW S1 – Sweeteners and benzotriazoles in drinking water 

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round) 

  • 16 Feb 2016 - 29 Feb 2016

Invitation letter

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 23 Dec 2015

Report

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - Non-target and suspect screening methods for organic substances in indoor dust

Organised by: NILU (NO), EI (SK)TUM (DE)Uni UMEA (SE)University of Antwerpen (BE), IVL (SE)IVM (NL)RECETOX (CZ)

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • December 2015 - April 2016

Invitation letter

Registration form

Deadline for registration: 30 Oct 2015

Publication

Proficiency test 6/15

TW S6 – X-ray- and MRI-contrast media in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round)
  • Oct –Nov 2015

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 31 Aug 2015

Report

Proficiency test 2/15

TW S5 –  Sulfonylurea herbicides drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round)
  • Feb –March 2015

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 31 Dec 2014

Report

NORMAN Collaborative Trial - Non-target screening of organic substances in river water

Organised by: EI (SK), UFZ (DE), LfU (DE), EAWAG (CH), Uni Umea (SE)

 

  • Collaborative Trial (1 round)
  • October 2013 - July 2014

            

 

Description of the CT
 

Registration: 25 November 2013
Shipment of samples: 10 December 2013
Result submission deadline: 28 February 2014
 

Minutes: Participant Workshop

Non-target Screening Workshop

Proficiency test 2/14

TW S3 – Alkylphenols in drinking water

Organised by: IWW and AQS Baden-Württemberg, Germany

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round)
  • Feb –March 2014

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for registration: 20 Dec 2013

Report

Interlaboratory study on the determination of cytostatics in surface and wastewater

Organised by: the EU-funded project CytoThreat

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round)
  • March – June 2013

Invitation letter and registration

Deadline for response:

31 Dec 2012

 

Interlaboratory study on the analysis of chlorinated paraffins in environmental matrices


Organised by: QUASIMEME and VU

  • Interlaboratory Study (4 rounds)
  • 1st round: April – June 2011
  • 2nd round: December 2012 – March 2013
  • 3rd round: August 2014 - July 2015 
  • 4th round: July 2016 - 15 October 2016 

Invitation 1st round/ Programme
Invitation 2nd round/ Programme

Invitation 3rd round/ Programme

Invitation 4th round/ Programme

Registration 1st round:
15 February 2011

Registration 2nd round:
1st November 2012

Registration 3rd round:
1st October 2014

Registration 4th round:
15 May 2016

1st round
Final Report

2nd round
Final Report

3rd round
Final Report

4th round
Final Report

NORMAN 1st interlaboratory study on the analysis of organic phosphorous flame retardants (PFRs)

Organised by: IVM

Invitation


Registration form

Registration (ILS): 31 Dec 2011


Shipment of samples to participants: 15 Jan 2012

Submission of results: 30 Apr 2012

Final Report

 

PHARMAS Interlaboratory study for the determination of antibiotics in resources and drinking water

Organised by: LERES

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round)
  • September 2011

Invitation

ILS programme

Registration 30 June 2011

Final report

Interlaboratory study on passive sampling of emerging pollutants - CM Onsite organised by NORMAN and JRC in support of CIS WFD

Organised by: WRI

  • Interlaboratory Study (1 round with 3 campaigns)
  • May – June 2011

Invitation

Programme

Registration 31st March 2011

 
AQS PT Round PT 2/10
TW O5 - Special organic analytes in drinking water - metabolites of pesticides
http://www.iswa.uni-stuttgart.de/ch/aqs/index_en.html
  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • March 2010

Invitation
Programme

29 Jan 2010

Final report

Passive samplers intercalibration exercise

Organised by: AQUAREF
(followed by a complementary passive sampler intercalibration organised by NORMAN in 2011).

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • April - June 2010
Programme
Registration
25 Jan 2010  
3rd Interlaboratory study on perfluorinated compounds in water, fish and sludge

Organised by: NORMAN and QUASIMEME (IVM-VU University, Amsterdam)

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • March - June 2009

Invitation
Programme

15 June 2009 Final Report
Sucralose in sewage treatment plant effluents and surface water

Organised by: IVL (Sweden)
in cooperation with NORMAN

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • June - October 2008
Invitation letter
 
1 June 2008 Summary report included in the NORMAN Bulletin N°1
Perfluorinated compounds in water and fish

Organised by: PERFORCE (IVM-VU University, Amsterdam)

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • 01 April-30 June 2007
Programme 30 June 2007 Report
Summary
PBDE in dust
Round 2 inter-laboratory study

Organised by: NORMAN IVM

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • Jan 08 - Feb 08
Minutes
Protocol
Completion in Jan 08 Report
PBDE in dust
Round 1 inter-laboratory study

Organised by: NORMAN UBA

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • Oct 06 - Dec 06
Protocol Completion in Dec 06 Report
NSAID in water
Round 2 inter-laboratory study

Organised by: NORMAN JSI

  • Inter-laboratory comparison study exercise
  • Oct 07 – Dec 07
Programme
Minutes

Protocols
Instructions

Completion in Dec 07 Report
NSAID in water
Round 1 inter-laboratory study

Organised by: NORMAN CSIC

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • Oct 06 – Dec 06
Programme
Programme
Completion in Dec 06 Report
Oestrogens in water
Round 1 inter-laboratory study

Organised by: NORMAN UKEA

  • Inter-laboratory comparison exercise
  • Feb 07 – May 07
Programme 1
Programme 2
Completion in Feb 07 Report
Topic Event Programme Deadline Reports