Marine benthic macroinvertebrates: first national interlaboratory comparison in the SNPA scope
The current legislation on the classification and assessment of the quality status of coastal marine environments (EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60 /EC) identifies the macrozoobenthic communities as indicator (Biological Quality Element) to be used for the classification of the ecological status of these environments.
The analysis of macrozoobenthos, marine organisms directly connected to the seabed and with dimensions greater than 1 mm, not being an analysis carried out by automatic instruments but by skilled Operators, can present elements of subjectivity, linked to the observation skills and experience of the Operator carrying out the analysis.
Participation in interlaboratory evaluation tests represents a useful tool to guarantee the quality control of the results obtained by an Operator/Laboratory and to ensure the comparability of the results themselves. Based on the strong recommendation for the harmonization of analytical methods for monitoring on a national scale (Law 132/2016: National System for Environmental Protection, SNPA, establishment), and given the lack in Italy and in the Mediterranean area of interlaboratory circuits for the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates of coastal marine environments, in October 2019, the Benthos Ecology Laboratory (LEB) of the Biology Area, in collaboration with the Metrology Area and the Quality Section of the National Center for the National Laboratories network (CN-LAB) of ISPRA organized the first national interlaboratory circuit called "Evaluation Test IC046 - Sorting marine sediments and Identification of macrozoobenthic organisms".
The circuit, organized in compliance with the UNI CEI EN ISO / IEC 17043: 2010 standard, was attended by eleven Operators belonging to seven Italian Regional Environmental Protection Agencies, obtaining positive results in terms of performance.
The ISPRA IC046 circuit has made it possible to create a network of marine taxonomists which is configured as an important tool for the exchange of information and knowledge and for the harmonization of measurement procedures, guaranteeing the comparability of analytical data for national environmental monitoring and control.
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