DHI has prepared an intercomparison as an opportunity to compare the results of your HPLC phytoplankton pigment analyses to results from other HPLC laboratories. You will be able to evaluate the precision of your method against the precision obtained by other HPLC laboratories. Furthermore, the average pigment concentrations obtained will be evaluated in relation to the average results from all participating laboratories.
All participating laboratories receive three filter samples of phytoplankton (triplicates). Each filter should be extracted and analysed for content and concentration of pigments applying the HPLC method routinely used in your laboratory.
When you report your results, we will also ask you to fill in an information sheet with details on the HPLC method you are using, i.e., extraction solvent and volume, if an internal standard was added, disruption method and time, soak time, clarification procedure, injection procedure and volume, calibration procedure, source for standards, absorption coefficients used, the governing equation that is used to determine the concentration of each pigment, and other information or deviations to the HPLC method you find important to mention.
We encourage you to investigate the performance of your HPLC method prior to participating in the intercomparison. For more information on validating a HPLC method, quality assurance, performance metrics etc., please see the reports on the SeaWiFS HPLC Analysis Round-Robin Experiments (SeaHARRE reports), which have been organized by Dr. Stanford B. Hooker, from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
The SeaHARRE reports can be downloaded here: http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/DOCS/TechMemo/
The intercomparison will run for one year and we will ship filters until 1 October 2012. The results should be reported in December 2012 at the latest. You will receive the results in February 2013.
Each participating laboratory will be assigned
a code to ensure anonymity.
Price for participation: 570 EUR excl. shipping costs.
Please contact us if you would like to participate or need more information: c14@dhigroup.com