Health and Environment

Metrology for a Healthy Environment and Safe Healthcare

VSL supports public authorities, laboratories and healthcare providers with metrological expertise and services that make air pollution, environmental impact and medical treatments quantifiable and controllable.

Introduction

Healthy People, Healthy Planet

 

Air pollution, PFAS, nitrogen, light pollution and noise demonstrably contribute to health problems and loss of biodiversity. Harmful substances such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds cause respiratory complaints, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Healthcare is also becoming more complex – advanced radiotherapy, radionuclide therapy and data‑driven diagnostics place new demands on the reliability of measurements.

At the same time, standards are tightening and social pressure to monitor better and act faster is increasing. Without a solid metrological basis, debates arise about models, measurement methods and outcomes, and policy risks degenerating into an illusion of certainty.

Would you like to know more about our services?

Our experts are happy to help.

Sabine Snijder
Sales Engineer

vsl@vsl.nl

The Role of Metrology in Health and Environment

 

Metrology ensures that measured values for air quality, radiation and medical parameters are traceable and reproducible. That means that a NO₂ value, radiation dose or PFAS concentration has the same meaning, regardless of who measures it or with which instrument.

For environment and healthcare, this includes:

  • Reference materials and measurement standards for air pollutants and emerging contaminants such as PFAS.
  • Metrological underpinning of dispersion models and sensor networks, so that spatial analyses rest on a reliable basis.
  • Accurate dosimetry standards for radiotherapy and radionuclide therapy, essential for safe and effective cancer treatment.
  • Traceable measurements for medical imaging, wearables and laboratory tests, so that clinical decisions rest on solid data.

How VSL Supports Healthcare and the Environment

 

VSL delivers a broad range of services for environmental and health issues.
For example:

For the environment:

  • Development and supply of high‑quality reference gases for, among others, NOx, SOx, NH₃, VOCs and oxy‑VOCs.
  • Calibrations and comparison studies for laboratories that measure emissions and air quality.
  • Development of measurement methods for new pollutants, including PFAS, and for light nuisance and light pollution.
  • Metrological support for validating sensor networks and models for air and environmental monitoring.

For healthcare:

  • Primary dosimetry standards and calibrations for radiotherapy equipment, so that patients receive the correct radiation dose.
  • Development of standards for radionuclide therapy and support with dose determination based on PET and SPECT images.
  • Validation and calibration of medical measurement chains, from laboratory analyses to wearables and imaging.
  • Independent assessments of measurements and conclusions, for example in audits or quality programmes.

Demonstrably Reliable, Green and Healthy

 

Whether you develop policy, supervise compliance or treat patients – your decisions are only as strong as the measurements they rely on. VSL helps make that measurement chain demonstrably reliable and traceable, from reference materials through to clinical practice.

Measurement in practice

 

The healthcare system in the Netherlands is innovative and of high quality. Read more about current developments: