Benchtop x-ray diffractometer for analyzing respirable crystalline silicas from filter membranes and powders

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health requests your offer for a benchtop x-ray diffractometer suitable for analyzing respirable crystalline silicas from filter membranes and powders and related services in accordance with this call for tenders and its annexes. The scope of the procurement also includes installation of the instrument and preparation of instrumental analysis methods for quartz and cristobalite, as well as quantitation methods for the same. Tenders for instruments that have been in minor use for less than a year for the purpose of, for instance, customer demonstrations, will be considered and treated identically to tenders for new instruments, provided that the usage does not affect the warranty time of the instrument. The estimated value of the procurement for the contract period is 185.000 € (VAT 0%). The contract will be valid indefinitely.

FIOH analyzes respirable quartz and other respirable crystalline silicas from 25 mm silver membranes prepared from workplace samples by an indirect method and measured according to ISO 16258-2/NIOSH 7500. The lowest concentration that needs to be quantitatively analyzed (LOQ) is 5 ug/sample. At this concentration, as required by the NIOSH method, we would prefer that three of the main quantitative peaks for quarts (26,7°, 20,9° and 50,2°) and cristobalite (21,9°, 36,1° and 31,5°) would be discernible from the background. If not possible, we require that at least two of the three peaks named above are visible for quantatative verification. Test analyzing procedure To verify the compliance with the above mentioned requirement, the bidder has to successfully analyze test filter membrane samples prepared and supplied by FIOH in concentrations of 5 ug/sample of quartz and cristobalite. We would prefer the LOQ to be lower than 5 µg and, consequently, require the bidder to analyse samples with a concentration of 7,5, 3 and 2 µg as well, in addition to a blank sample. If the bidder wants to participate in the tender procedure: 1. the bidder must send an e-mail to tapani.tuomi@ttl.fi and request the test samples 2. the bidder must analyze the samples 3. the bidder must submit the test report by the deadline for submitting bids (10 April 2025 10:00 AM). The test report must demonstrate that the above mentioned conditions are met. If the conditions are not met, FIOH must exclude the bidder from the tender procedure. The results of the test report are also taken into account in the quality comparison (see appendix 1 Tender form).

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