Inauguration of new JRC-IRMM laboratory for reference materials

The news

On 23 November 2010, the JRC's Institute of Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) inaugurated a new reference materials production building. The new building will be the largest building on the JRC-IRMM site, housing a production hall, laboratories for elemental and protein analysis and a class-III bio-safety laboratory.

Better healthcare, food safety and environmental protection are just some of the ways in which accurate and reliable measurements enhance our quality of life. Complex measurements such as the amount of genetically modified maize or the levels of bacteria in a food sample do not have global standards (such as the kilogram) and rely therefore on reference materials - which are substances with a precisely-known property, developed and produced by specialised institutions.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is one of the leading producers of reference materials in the world, particularly in the clinical, food and GMO application areas. It develops and produces over 670 reference materials which are distributed to analytical laboratories around the world and used to develop, calibrate, validate and control analytical methods, providing the laboratories with a benchmark to deliver reliable, comparable and traceable results.

The new production building brings together technologies and processing equipment to provide an innovative set-up which bridges the gap between the laboratory and industrial scale. The facilities will be used to develop and produce reference materials to support European legislation in emerging fields such as molecular biosciences and nanotechnology.

About reference materials

There are countless examples in which accurate measurements are crucial, such as hospital blood tests, measuring the size of nanoparticles or checking shipments of foodstuffs for the presence of genetically modified organisms.

Reference materials play a crucial role in the ‘behind-the-scenes’ global measurement infrastructure, which enables analytical laboratories over the world to carry out tests in a comparable and harmonised manner. They are used by laboratories to calibrate their instruments and to develop reliable testing methods.

Presentations

• Overview of JRC and IRMM (D. Anderson)
• The Truth in a Bottle: The JRC-IRMM reference materials programme (Dr T. Linsinger)

Press releases

Contact

Elena González Verdesoto (JRC Press officer Brussels), Tel.: +32 (0)2 299 98 62
David Anderson (JRC-IRMM Communication Officer), Tel.: +32 (0) 1457 1997

Background documents

Mycotoxins in food and feed - Detecting naturally occurring toxins

Aflatoxins in pistachios - New reference materials for food-safety testing

Melamine in milk powder - Benchmarking laboratories' ability to detect melamine

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids - Naturally occurring toxins found in many species of plants

JRC-IRMM's reference material for C-reactive protein - A worldwide anchor point in clinical chemistry

Alcohol fraud prevention - Towards an easily detectable and reliable "euro-denaturant"

Protecting the seas - New reference material for monitoring seawater pollution

Heavy metals in toys - Harmonising safety standards

Pictures

Video