Manual and standard operating procedures in Nordic environmental Specimen Banking

Under the authority of the Nordic Council of Ministers a project for coordination of the ESB activities in the Nordic countries started in 1991. In 1995 the Project Group published a collective description of procedures as collection, transportation, preparation and storing of specimens in Nordic ESBs. The primary aim of the manual is to visualize methodologies and techniques used in the Nordic ESBs. The focal points in the forthcoming cooperation will be updating of the manual and establishment of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ESBs in the Nordic countries. The national protocols in the manual will constitute a base for this work. Agreement and establishment of standard protocols is supposed to facilitate joint monitoring and promote quality assurance.