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The EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) promises to overhaul how Europe manages its water. Within the framework, new EU-wide water quality standards have recently been proposed. These set target and maximum allowable concentrations for 33 priority compounds which member states must comply with by 2015. The priority hazardous substances include cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury and tributyltin. The proposed regulations will require analytical techniques with detection limits as shown in the table below.
| Priority Substance |
Lowest Level of Interest (ppb) |
Likely MDL Required (ppb) |
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Cd (and its compunds)
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0.08 |
0.008 |
| Pb (and its compounds) |
7.2 |
0.7 |
| Ni (and its compounds) |
20 |
2 |
| Mercury (and its compounds) |
0.05 |
0.005 |
| Tributyltin (TBT) |
0.0002 |
0.00002 |
ICP-MS is a good candidate for providing these levels of detection and can be used to determine ultratrace levels of TBT when coupled with gas chromatography.
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