Biota
Fish (liver), mussel and shrimp tissue
Proficiency tests
Participation is open to all laboratories. The type of sample is tissue from different species of fish (muscle and liver), shellfish and shrimp.
General information
- Biota test materials are collected from contaminated waters, seawater and coastal sites in Europe like the North Sea, Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
- Depending on the type of exercise, biota samples are prepared from shellfish tissue, fish tissue, fish liver or shrimp.
- Biota samples are either natural contaminated or spiked with a selection of determinands where relevant.
- Biota tissue samples contain ± 50 gram of homogenized tissue.
- Biota samples are autoclaved and have been shown to be stable over a number of years when stored at room temperature.
- Reports contain all data reported under strict confidentiality, including Z-score plots and method information of the methods used.
Determinands
The list below shows the typical determinands for the Biota programmes. For a list of determinands which are under the scope of accreditation please check here.
| Analyte group | Typical analytes | Excercise |
| Brominated Flame Retardants | BDE28, BDE47, BDE49, BDE66, BDE85, BDE99, BDE100, BDE126, BDE153, BDE154, BDE183, BDE209, TBBP-A, Dimethyl-TBBP-A, a-HBCD, b-HBCD, g-HBCD, Total HBCD, BTBPE, DBDPE, HBBz, EHTBB, EHTEBP, Total lipid | BT9 |
| Chlorinated organics | PCB11, PCB28, PCB28+PCB31, PCB31, PCB52, PCB99, PCB101, PCB105, PCB107, PCB108, PCB109, PCB110, PCB111, PCB112, PCB113, PCB114, PCB118, PCB128, PCB138, PCB138+PCB163, PCB153, PCB156, PCB170, PCB180, PCB183, PCB187, PCB194, PCB203, PCB209, cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane, Oxychlordane, Dicofol, op'-DDT, pp'-DDE, pp'-DDT, pp'-DDD, Dieldrin, HCB, HCBD, a-HCH, b-HCH, d-HCH, g-HCH, Heptachlor, Heptachlor-epoxide (sum), Transnonachlor | BT2 |
| Lipids | Extractable-Lipid, Total-Lipid | BT1, BT2, BT4 |
| Metals | Aluminium, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Cadmium, Calcium, Cerium, Cesium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Gold, Iron, Lanthanum, Lead, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Methyl. Mercury, Molybdene, Neodymium, Nickel, Palladium, Phosphorus, Platinum, Potassium, Rubidium, Scandium, Selenium, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, Sulfur, Tantalum, Tellurium, Thallium, Thorium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Uranium, Vanadium, Yttrium, Zinc, Zirconium | BT1 |
| Microplastics | Total number of particles, Total mass of particles | DE17 |
| Organometals | Monobutyltin (MBT), Dibutyltin (DBT), Tributyltin (TBT), Monophenyltin (MPhT), Diphenyltin (DPhT), Triphenyltin (TPhT) | BT8 |
| Perfluorinated alkyl substances | n-PFOS, total-PFOS, PFOSA, PFDS, PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoA, PFTrDA, PFTeDA, n-PFBS, total-PFBS, n-PFHxS, total-PFHxS, n-PFHps, total-PFHpS, PFODA, PFBSA, PFHxSA, NMeFOSAA, NEtFOSAA, GenX, F-53B | BT10 |
| Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons | Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene, Anthracene, Benzo[a]anthracene, Benzo[a]fluorene, Benzo[a]pyrene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene, Benzo[e]pyrene, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Benzo[k]fluoranthene, Benzofluoranthenes (a+b+j+k), Chrysene, Chrysene + Triphenylene, Dibenz[ah]anthracene, Dibenzo[a,i]pyrene, Dibenzothiophene, Fluoranthene, Fluorene, Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, Naphthalene, Perylene, Phenanthrene, Pyrene, Triphenylene, 1-methylanthracene, 2-methylanthracene, 1-methylnaphtalene, 2-methylnaphtalene, 1-methylphenanthrene, 2-methylphenanthrene, 3-6-dimethylphenanthrene, 1-methylpyrene, 1,2-benzodiphenylen sulfide, C1-phenanthren.+ anthracen., C2-phenanthren.+ anthracen., C3-phenanthren.+ anthracen., C1-pyrenes+fluoranthenes, C2-pyrenes+fluoranthenes, C1-chrysenes, C2-chrysenes, C1-benzofluoranthenes, C1-Dibenzothiophenes, C2-Dibenzothiophenes, C3-Dibenzothiophenes | BT4 |
| Total petroleum hydrocarbons | Total petroleum hydrocarbons | BT4 |
| Weight | Ash-Weight, Dry-weight | BT1 |
Reference materials
Samples of previous proficiency tests are sold as reference materials. Available materials can be selected and ordered in our webshop. In our webshop it is also possible to request a quotation. Participants of our proficiency tests are entitled to a discount.