Reference materials

Certified reference materials are materials whose analyte content is accurately known, e.g. tuna fish powder with a known mercury content.

They are needed for calibration of instruments, establishing traceability of measurement results, method development, method validation and quality control of measurements and laboratories. Present standards for the accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories such as ISO 17025 stipulate the use of reference materials.

Reference materials must be homogeneous, stable, and representative of the real sample, and the certified values must be accurate. IRMM is constantly improving its techniques of processing various materials and analysing them and continuously extends the range of available reference materials. It develops certified reference materials for testing measurements in the areas of food and agriculture, environment, clinical chemistry and industry.

Read more about the history of reference materials production at the European Commission and IRMM:

From BCR to ERM

See a video about storage and distribution of reference materials (icon 4KB ).

See also the IRMM catalogue of reference materials, the European Reference Materials web site and the frequently asked questions about reference materials.

Requests for development of new GMO reference materials: see services under the reference materials catalogue.



Last Update 10/02/2006