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Introducting to the international environmental specimen bank group
Environmental specimen banks represent an important tool for the assessment of chemical regulation and risk mitigation measures. Please follow the link to get to know who is involved in the international environmental specimen group and what the specific tasks are in each country.
Further information and videos can be found for:
The Biscay Bay Environmental Biospecimen Bank (BBEBB)
NIST Marine Environmental Specimen Bank
French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA)- Visite de l'écothèque
French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) - Cryogénisation
Norwegian Environmental Specimen Bank - Miljøprøvebanken
Korean National Environmental Specimen Bank (NIER)
Preparing of specimens for archiving
Sample preparation of specimens for archiving and analysis requires several steps. All steps are conducted in clean air cabins to avoid external contamination.
Manual breakdown of specimens
Grounding of specimens in a precooled CryoMill
The resulting powder is now homogenised
The method allows for the creation of sub-samples
All steps are exemplarily shown in a video by Fraunhofer IME.
Storage of specimens in the environmental specimen bank
The storage and archiving of samples are exemplarily shown by Fraunhofer IME. Samples from environmental specimen banks are often stored in the gas phase of liquid nitrogen (-150°C).
At Canada's National Aquatic Biological Specimen Bank, each specimen is homogenized and divided into 5 to 15 subsamples of ~20 g. All samples are stored at -80°C in a dedicated climate-controlled building with continuous monitoring of security and storage conditions. In the event of power failure, electricity to the facility is maintained by backup generators. In the event of mechanical failure in any of the freezer units, temperature sensors will trigger the release of liquid CO2 to maintain freezing temperatures until the specimens can be manually transferred to another freezer.
Canada’s National Aquatic Biological Specimen Bank and Database
Freezers at Canada’s National Aquatic Biological Specimen Bank and Database
Quelle: Mandi Clark (Canada’s National Aquatic Biological Specimen Bank)
Example: Analysing mercury in archived specimens
The first step requires freeze-drying of specimens under vacuum and the determination of their water content.
Freeze-dried and homogenized samples can be easily shipped and are suitable for a large variety of chemical analysis
The analysis of samples is exemplarily shown by Fraunhofer IME.
