Report on the first ICES intercomparison exercise on petroleum hydrocarbon analyses in marine samples

An intercomparison of petroleum hydrocarbon analyses has been conducted for samples of crude oil, marine sediment and mussel homogenate. Thirty-six sets ' of samples were distributed and results have been submitted by twenty-six laboratories in eleven countries. No analytical techniques were specified for the exercise, and analyses by gravimetry, infrared and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, gas and liquid chromatography, and combined gas chromatography/ma.es spectrometry were reported. A reasonable agreement was obtained between laboratories for broad fraction analyses, but the determined concentrations of sp.ecific hydrocarbons showed greater variation. Proposals are made for the general lines of a follow-up exercise.