Certificate of analysis of the reference material BRP-1 (Basalt Ribeirao Preto)

Reference materials (RM) are essential to achieve traceability of measurements. Specific uses of RM in analytical laboratories are the validation of methods, the calibration of instruments, the quality control and the demonstration of proficiency. This paper describes the certification of a new geochemical reference material, named BRP-1 (Basalt Ribeirao Preto), and acts as the certificate of analysis for this RM. The rock sample was crushed and pulverised at the USGS (Denver, USA), homogenised and split into 1920 bottles, with 55 g each. BRP-1 was transported back to Brazil and the homogeneity between and within bottles was assessed to demonstrate sufficient homogeneity for certification. The chemical characterisation was performed by twenty-five laboratories. Each laboratory received two bottles of BRP-1 and one of BCR-2 (Basalt Columbia River) used for quality control (QC). Reference values and uncertainties were calculated for forty-four constituents of BRP-1, following ISO Guide 35 recommendations and the IAG Protocol. The calculation of each reference value included data of proven traceability from at least ten laboratories using two or more analytical techniques and the uncertainties combines the characterisation and between bottle homogeneity contributions.