On December 26, 2023, upon invitation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the School of Environment (SOE), Tsinghua University joined the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) and was granted a registration certificate. Professor Xu Ming is the designated representative for the laboratory. The School's public research platform will be responsible for implementing various laboratory construction tasks.
In December 2012, FAO established the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) mechanism. It aims to promote sustainable soil management through enhanced cooperation among land users, policymakers, and stakeholders. In November 2017, FAO further established the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN), which facilitates collaboration and information sharing among soil laboratories across 152 countries. GLOSOLAN supports the global assessment, monitoring, and sustainable management of soils and has contributed to the establishment of the Global Soil Information System. The main activities of GLOSOLAN include Establishing coordination principles and standard operating procedures; Developing international soil testing standards and indicators; Improving laboratory quality control and management; Ensuring the reliability and accuracy of soil measurement data; Conducting international comparisons of soil test data.
At present, SOE has been fully equipped with a complete range of instruments and equipment capable of supporting the detection of pollutants in soil and groundwater. The pre-treatment equipment includes microwave digestion systems and accelerated solvent extractors; for inorganic element analysis, the school is equipped with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS), atomic fluorescence spectrography (AFS), and element analyzers; for trace organic analysis, the school has purge-trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PT-GCMS) and supercritical fluid chromatography-mass spectrometry (SFC-MS), among other instruments. In addition, the School of Environment possesses the capability for on-site sampling of soil and groundwater. It also holds the China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) qualifications and certifications for a range of projects, including routine inorganic and organic analyses, trace organic pollutant analysis (such as pesticide residues and dioxins), and environmental microbiology assessments.
SOE is set to establish a high-standard professional testing laboratory within the Air-Ground Integrated Environmental Perception and Intelligent Response Research Platform (the Environmental Brain Project). The laboratory will be managed and operated in accordance with the ISO 17025 standards and will apply for accreditation from the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) and certification from the China Metrology Accreditation (CMA). These efforts will not only better support global environmental testing laboratory comparison activities such as GLOSOLAN, but also provide a higher quality and more comprehensive range of instrument usage and commissioned testing services for faculty and students.
