A quality assurance and control program for PM2.5 and PM10 measurements in European air quality monitoring networks

To harmonize PM measurements in the European Union, the JRC together with the AQUILA Network of National Air Quality Reference Laboratories organized a PM QA/QC program. From 2006 - 2009, the JRC, equipped with a mobile laboratory, measured in 18 Member States, for a duration of two weeks each, PM10 and PM2.5 in parallel to measurement sites of local networks and to the National Reference Laboratories. The main goals of the project were to find out to which degree PM measurements performed in the Member States agree with the requirements of the relevant EU directive and how correction factors for automatic analyzers were applied.