You are here
Passive sampling gets routine monitoring role on back of NORMAN efforts
The sustained efforts of the NORMAN Expert Group on passive sampling are finally bearing fruit. The discussions on the official inclusion of passive sampling in national monitoring schemes, kicked off in 2012 by Working Group E of the EC’s DG Environment, leant heavily on the outcomes of the 2011 NORMAN interlaboratory study of passive sampling. The data generated by the twenty-nine labs – European, North American and Australian – involved in that study have since been systematically evaluated and been the subject of follow-up meetings of the NORMAN Expert Group. As a result of this world-leading move, long-awaited and cost-efficient integrated monitoring tools for a wide range of pollutants are now on the verge of practical application.