John R. Kucklick

Interlaboratory Comparison Study to Support the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Description and Results for QA11Blood01- PAHs, PAH Metabolites, and DOSS in Solution and Blood

To support natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) in response to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a large number of samples were collected from protected species including marine mammals and sea turtles. Analysis of these samples will continue for the foreseeable future. To support NRDA sample analyses, NOAA will require analytical laboratories in addition to the commercial laboratories that are currently listed as providing support to NRDA. To compare the data among these laboratories, interlaboratory comparison studies have been initiated, and the results from the fourth exercise, QA11Blood01, are reported here. In this exercise, selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylated PAHs, hydroxylated PAH metabolites and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS) were determined in the exercise material, which consisted of a whole blood and plasma collected from American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) amended with the test compounds. A solution containing known amounts of the test compounds was also distributed to help gauge analyses conducted on a matrix‐free sample. The results from this fourth exercise are reported along with a summary of the analytical methods used.