TESTNET ( http://www.est-testnet.net/ ) is an EU-project developing and testing schemes for a European Environmentally Technology Verification (ETV) program, and work now has to be started on the test cases, where the first case deals with monitoring equipment.

The goal of a European ETV is to verify the performance characteristics of commercial-ready (environmental) technologies through the evaluation of objective and quality assured data, so that potential purchasers are provided with an independent and credible assessment of what they are buying.The verification procedure therefore uses data generated by agreed performance testing procedures, which already exists for monitoring equipment: ISO 15839: Water Quality – Online Sensors/Analysing Equipment for Water – Specifications and Performance Tests, is an EU-project developing and testing schemes for a European Environmentally Technology Verification (ETV) program, and work now has to be started on the test cases, where the first case deals with monitoring equipment.It has been decided to test the TOXcontrol On-line Biomonitor and the s::can spectro::lyser for nitrate and nitrite concentration. Testing will be performed by the DHI in Aarhus, Denmark and KIWA in the Netherlands.

More information on the TESTNET project can be downloaded here.

In the Workpackage 3 a protocol will be written to verify the performance characteristics with 2 sensor both in laboratory tests and field tests. A poster about this protocol to test the Verification System in practice was first shown on the Water Frame Directive Conference in Lille in march 2007.

One of the requirements of the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR) is to establish a European infrastructure for biological effects. Therefore Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA / QC) is getting more and more important in order that laboratories contributing to national and international monitoring programmes, can attain defined quality standards.

The luminescent bioassay:
Since early 90s the Microtox bioassay using luminescent bacteria has been established as a regulatory tool for wastewater control in several countries, and has been standardized since 1998 (ISO 11348:1998). Laboratories pursuing an accreditation through ISO 17025, are always required to demonstrate the existence of an internal Quality Control Program. One of the options to fulfil this requirement is the participation in interlaboratory comparison round robins, (ISO-EIC guide 43:1997) which would allow each participant to check their competence against other laboratories performing similar assays.

Goals of the QA / QC program:
Our main objective with this QA / QC program is to help to develop and support an infrastructure for assessing the comparability of data from individual laboratories using luminescence bacteria bioassays and to demonstrate that biological effects analyses are under statistical control and are of known quality.

Together with our partners we would like to achieve the following goals:

• Produce an agreed set of protocols for the bioluminescent bioassay method and through this get a better knowledge on the capabilities and limitations of this bioassay.
• Determination of the variability expected when several laboratories perform the assay on the same samples and obtain conformity on acceptable limits of variation.
• Develop a system for monitoring the output of Participating Laboratories and assessing their compliance with appropriate quality standards.
• Study of the sensitivity in front of different chemical substances.
• Show that this technique can be considered robust enough to be used more widely in monitoring programmes.

The QA / QC program will offer you the following:

1. Training workshops
2. Intercalibration exercises: participants will receive relevant reference material, protocols and data sheets and will be asked to conduct the bioassay and report the results within a specified time scale.
3. Production of reports: reports will be produced summarising the results of the intercalibration exercise.
4. Workshops: organise workshops as a forum for luminescent bacteria toxicity assay users for discussions regarding experiences regarding the assay itself, its uses, applications, regulatory concerns, problems with methodology, sharing of scientific/technical knowledge.

The following QA / QC programs are offered.

Inter-Laboratory Comparison Exercise for the Luminescent Bacteria Toxicity assay.
Since 1993, there has been a Spanish yearly Interlaboratory Comparison Exercise of the bacterial luminescence toxicity assay.

From the very beginning, the goal of these Inter-laboratory comparison Exercises has been:

• To gain a better knowledge on the capabilities and limitations of this bioassay.
• Study of the sensitivity in front of different chemical substances.
• Determination of the variability expected when several laboratories performed the assay on the same samples.

More information about the back-ground of this Inter-Laboratory program can be found here:

• Repeatability and reproducibility of luminescent bacteria bioassay.
• Quality assurance of bacterial luminescence assay.

The initial goal was to create a forum where luminescent bacteria toxicity assay users could share experiences regarding the assay itself, its uses, applications, regulatory concerns, etc. The QA/QC program is now extended to laboratories performing the luminescent bacteria toxicity assay either as a routine test, or as a research tool, in the Benelux.

For more information click here.