Organic Pollutant Standards

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are listed as persistent organic pollutants due to their high toxicity and are banned. However, PCBs were once widely employed as dielectric and coolant fluids or used in paints, plastics, pigments, and carbonless copy papers. As PCBs are very persistent chemicals, today they are still found in the environment and hence, must be closely monitored. PCBs can also accumulate in leaves, above-ground parts of plants and crops, along with small organisms and fish. We offer a wide variety of PCB reference materials as single solutions or mixes in different quality grades (analytical standards, certified reference material) for your laboratory requirements.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of chemicals released from burning coal, oil, gasoline, trash, tobacco, and wood. They are also formed in meat and other food during high-temperature grilling. Since PAHs can cause cancer or irritation of breathing passages, their amount in the environment as well as in food must be monitored. We offer a broad selection of reference materials (neat, solution) as primary reference material from the European National Metrological Institute (JRC) under the trademark BCR® as well as certified reference material and analytical standard grade products.

Volatile and Semi-volatile organic reference material

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the organic compounds that can easily vaporize under ordinary indoor atmospheric conditions of temperature and pressure. They are sometimes categorized by the ease they will be emitted e.g.:

• Very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs)
• Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)

Explore our extensive portfolio of reference materials available in various formats (neat, single solutions, mixes) and quality grades (analytical standard, certified reference material).

Flame retardants and perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS)

Flame retardants are added to manufactured materials to prevent fires or slow the ignition. Certain flame retardants are banned or restricted in various countries in the world due to their toxicity (genotoxicity, carcinogenicity). The several classes of flame retardants are as follows:

• Mineral flame retardants
• Organochlorine compounds
• Organobromine compounds
• Organophosphorus compounds

Our portfolio offers neat and solution reference materials for testing the various flame-retardant classes that are labeled and non-labeled.

Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of persistent man-made chemicals found in many products that are used in various industries worldwide. Some PFAS do not break down and can accumulate over time in the environment and the human body. High exposure to PFAS may lead to adverse health effects such as cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, and increased risk of asthma. It has become essential to monitor their concentration not only in the environment but also in food, contaminated soil, and water or food packaging. Our rapidly expanding range of PFAS reference material complies with existing norms and regulations from EPA, ASTM, or EN/DIN methods.

Plasticizer, phthalates and disinfection-by products

Phthalates are a group of chemicals used as a plasticizer to soften plastics and increase their flexibility. These are commercially used in a variety of industrial and consumer products. Phthalates must be closely monitored as they pose an adverse effect on the reproductive system. We are continuously adding phthalate and phthalate metabolite reference materials to our portfolio.

Substances of very high concern (SVHC)

Substances of very high concern (SVHC) are hazardous chemicals regulated by REACH. REACH is a European Union Regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals. The decision to add a substance to the SVHC candidate list is made by national REACH Competent Authorities, or by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) at the request of the European Commission (EC). All suppliers of industrial goods should inform the ECHA if an article contains more than 0.1% (w/w) of SVHCs. Our extensive portfolio of SVHC regulated products includes analytical standard grade products as well as certified reference materials to meet your laboratory requirements.

Air pollutant standards

Choose from a variety of air monitoring calibration reference materials that are required for chromatographic calibration or spiking solutions and the analysis of carbonyl samples. They can be used for various international methods, such as ASTM methods, US EPA methods, NIOSH, and OSHA methods for workplace atmosphere. The certified DNPH mixes are used as European working and calibration check standards for the ambient air analysis of carbonyl emissions from vehicle exhaust.

We provide neat standards and single element certified reference solutions for the required applications. For measuring the banned piperazine compounds, used in the derivatization process of isocyanates (that comply with ISO 17734-1:2013), we have developed several certified reference material mixes such as isocyanate-dibutylamine (DBA) as labeled and non-labeled monomers and oligomers mixes.