The National Laboratory Service (NLS) has recently become a member of the NORMAN network; a non-profit association which aims to identify and manage emerging environmental pollutants.

The NORMAN network was formed in September 2005 with the financial support of the European Commission. It is now established as a permanent self-sustaining network of approximately 50 reference laboratories, research centres and related organisations for the monitoring and bio-monitoring of emerging environmental substances.

Membership of this network presents the NLS with benefits to aid its continuous research and development efforts and the work it executes on behalf of the Environment Agency through indentifying substances within water, air and soil.   

Ian Rippin, commercial director of the NLS said: "The benefits that the NLS will receive by being a part of the NORMAN network will be fundamental to the work that we do. It will introduce us to a huge amount of data from member organisations and it will allow us to communicate our own research results, which should allow us to collectively assess and monitor the emerging substances issue on a much larger scale."

"We are keen to work alongside other laboratories that face the same challenges for the development of analytical methodologies that can meet ever more demanding Environmental Quality Standards."  

For further information please visit www.natlabs.co.uk or for more details on the NORMAN network visit www.norman-network.net