Our department’s response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
See Australia.gov.au for whole of Australian Government COVID-19 advice.
- Policies and initiatives
Emissions reduction
Industry innovation and science
- Artificial intelligence
- Australian Radioactive Waste Agency
- Australian Space Agency
- Boosting innovation and science
- Co-hosting the Square Kilometre Array
- Increasing international collaboration
- Industry growth centres
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia
- National Measurement Institute
- Optical astronomy in Australia
- Participating in the digital economy
- Promoting innovation precincts
- Science in our department
- Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
Energy
Resources
Northern Australia
Trade
Business support
Measurement services
Government to government services
- Regulations and standards
Emissions reduction
Energy
Resources
- Applying to export rough diamonds
- Applying to export uranium and controlled ores
- Offshore mineral exploration and mining
- Offshore oil and gas exploration and development
- Offshore petroleum exploration acreage release process
- Regulating offshore oil and gas in Australian Commonwealth waters
- Regulating the Ranger Uranium Mine
- Taxes and royalties on minerals and petroleum
Measurement
Trade
Space industry
Building industry
Business support
- Funding and incentives
Emissions reduction
Industry innovation and science
- Australian Square Kilometre Array Fellowships Programme
- Business Research and Innovation Initiative
- Business-research collaboration
- Collaborating with Asia-Pacific on science, research and innovation
- Collaborating with China on science and research
- Collaborating with India on science and research
- Cooperative research centres
- Enabling international space investment
- Industry 4.0
- Inspiring Australia: Science engagement in Australia
- International research collaboration
- Moon to Mars: opportunities for Australian businesses
- Prime Minister's Prizes for Science
- Research and Development Tax Incentive
- Supporting advanced manufacturing
- Supporting business and innovation
- Supporting space infrastructure growth
- Transitioning Australia’s automotive manufacturing industry
- Venture capital
Resources
- About us
COVID-19
Jobs
Who we are
- Our Ministers
- Our Executive team
- Organisation chart
- Our portfolio agencies
- Overseas engagement
- Anti-Dumping Commission
- Anti-Dumping Review Panel
- Australian Radioactive Waste Agency
- Australian SKA Office
- Australian Space Agency
- Critical Minerals Facilitation Office
- National Measurement Institute
- Office of Innovation and Science Australia
- Office of Northern Australia
- Office of the Chief Economist
- Office of the Chief Scientist
Who we work with
Reporting and accountability
- Annual report
- Assurance and Audit Committee
- Budget statements
- Campaign Certification Statements
- Continuing Order of the Senate
- Corporate plan
- Deregulation agenda
- Freedom of information
- Gifts and benefits register
- Grants reporting
- Information Publication Scheme
- Our contracts
- Privacy impact assessments
- Public interest disclosure
- Senate Order 15: portfolio appointments and vacancies
Our online presence
Contact
- Publications
- News
- Policies and initiatives
Emissions reduction
Industry innovation and science
- Artificial intelligence
- Australian Radioactive Waste Agency
- Australian Space Agency
- Boosting innovation and science
- Co-hosting the Square Kilometre Array
- Increasing international collaboration
- Industry growth centres
- Industry Innovation and Science Australia
- National Measurement Institute
- Optical astronomy in Australia
- Participating in the digital economy
- Promoting innovation precincts
- Science in our department
- Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
Energy
Resources
Northern Australia
Trade
Business support
Measurement services
Government to government services
- Regulations and standards
Emissions reduction
Energy
Resources
- Applying to export rough diamonds
- Applying to export uranium and controlled ores
- Offshore mineral exploration and mining
- Offshore oil and gas exploration and development
- Offshore petroleum exploration acreage release process
- Regulating offshore oil and gas in Australian Commonwealth waters
- Regulating the Ranger Uranium Mine
- Taxes and royalties on minerals and petroleum
Measurement
Trade
Space industry
Building industry
Business support
- Funding and incentives
Emissions reduction
Industry innovation and science
- Australian Square Kilometre Array Fellowships Programme
- Business Research and Innovation Initiative
- Business-research collaboration
- Collaborating with Asia-Pacific on science, research and innovation
- Collaborating with China on science and research
- Collaborating with India on science and research
- Cooperative research centres
- Enabling international space investment
- Industry 4.0
- Inspiring Australia: Science engagement in Australia
- International research collaboration
- Moon to Mars: opportunities for Australian businesses
- Prime Minister's Prizes for Science
- Research and Development Tax Incentive
- Supporting advanced manufacturing
- Supporting business and innovation
- Supporting space infrastructure growth
- Transitioning Australia’s automotive manufacturing industry
- Venture capital
Resources
- About us
COVID-19
Jobs
Who we are
- Our Ministers
- Our Executive team
- Organisation chart
- Our portfolio agencies
- Overseas engagement
- Anti-Dumping Commission
- Anti-Dumping Review Panel
- Australian Radioactive Waste Agency
- Australian SKA Office
- Australian Space Agency
- Critical Minerals Facilitation Office
- National Measurement Institute
- Office of Innovation and Science Australia
- Office of Northern Australia
- Office of the Chief Economist
- Office of the Chief Scientist
Who we work with
Reporting and accountability
- Annual report
- Assurance and Audit Committee
- Budget statements
- Campaign Certification Statements
- Continuing Order of the Senate
- Corporate plan
- Deregulation agenda
- Freedom of information
- Gifts and benefits register
- Grants reporting
- Information Publication Scheme
- Our contracts
- Privacy impact assessments
- Public interest disclosure
- Senate Order 15: portfolio appointments and vacancies
Our online presence
Contact
- Publications
- News
On this page
Our core testing services

The National Measurement Institute (NMI) provides a wide range of environmental testing services.
Our services include testing a wide range of matrices and specialise in testing the following:
- drinking and saline water
- waste/industrial water and solids
- environmental water and solids
- soils (including toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and elutriates)
- sediments and other dredged material
- aquatic, marine and terrestrial biota
- biosolids
- air (ambient and indoor air, emissions, vapour intrusion)
- other, e.g. paint, oil, filter, swab
Find out about our specialist environmental analysis services.
Analysing aqueous, solid and biota samples
We analyse:
- volatile and semi-volatile organics:
- total recoverable hydrocarbons (C6-C40)
- benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX)
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- phenols
- monocyclic aromatics hydrocarbons
- volatile halogenated hydrocarbons
- alcohols
- volatile organic compounds (United State Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) method 8260)
- light hydrocarbons (C1-C5)
- semi-volatile organic compounds (US EPA method 8270)
- disinfection by-products
- phthalate esters
- bisphenol A
- inorganic anions and disinfection by-products:
- fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, nitrite, sulphate, phosphate
- chlorite, chlorate, bromate, iodide
- non-targeted organic screen
- nutrient and physico-chemical tests:
- acidity (as CaCO3), alkalinity– bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, hardness—calcium, magnesium and total
- ammonia, ammonium (calculating. pH and ammonia-n analyses), nitrogen—total Kjeldahl, nitrogen—total
- biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD)
- speciation carbon—total carbon (TC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), total organic carbon (TOC), dissolved carbon (DC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
- chlorine (free), chlorine (total), chloramines, chlorine (total and free), oxidisability (bottled water only)
- chromium—hexavalent (Cr 6+), iron—ferrous
- conductivity, pH, turbidity, colour (apparent), colour (true)
- cyanide–amenable, cyanide–free, cyanide—WAD (weak acid dissociable), cyanide—total
- detergent (MBAS), oil and grease
- solids—total, solids—volatile, solids—total dissolved (grav.), solids—total dissolved (calc.), solids - fixed suspended, solids—total suspended (NFR)
- sulphide—dissolved, sulphide—total
- organotins:
- monobutyl, dibutyl and tributyltin
- persistent organic pollutants (POPs):
- per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), telomers
- dioxin and furan—polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans
- polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs)
- dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls
- short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs)
- pesticides:
- glyphosate (aminomethylphosphonic acid and glufosinate)
- organochlorine pesticides (OCPs)
- organophosphorous pesticides (OPPs)
- pesticide screen by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for:
- OCPs
- OPPs
- synthetic pyrethroids
- herbicides
- fungicides
- carbamates and more
- pesticide screen by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
- phenoxy acid herbicides
- synthetic pyrethroids
- triazine herbicides
- polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- congeners or arochlors
- estrogens
- trace and macro elements (fresh and marine water)
- 52 elements
- trace elements speciation:
- lead and strontium isotopes
- microbiological tests:
- legionella
- heterotrophic plate count
- Escherichia coli
- total coliforms
- faecal coliforms
- Clostridium perfringens
Analysing air samples
We analyse:
- inorganic residues*
- non-targeted organic screen*
- permanent gases – oxygen, carbon dioxide
- persistent organic pollutants*:
- dioxin and furan (US EPA method 23 and US method EPA TO-09)
- dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (US EPA method TO-10)
- polybrominated diphenylethers
- short-chain chlorinated paraffins
- semi-volatile organic residues*:
- pesticides
- phenols
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (US EPA method TO-13, CARB method 429)
- polychlorinated biphenyl
- sulphur compounds
- targeted volatile organic compounds and hydrocarbons based on:
- US EPA method TO-15—canisters
- US EPA method TO-17—adsorption tubes
- trace metals*—52 elements
You must submit the tests marked with an asterisk (*) using a filter, wipe, tube, canister, rinse, impinger solution or passive sampler.
Calibration of environmental monitoring stations
We also offer calibration services for instruments that test:
- relative humidity
- air temperature
- barometric pressure
Turnaround times
Our standard turnaround time is 5-30 days.
We also offer 1, 2 and 3 working day turnaround times where agreed.
Submitting samples
Find out how to submit your environmental testing samples.
This includes advice on how to preserve samples, containers to use and holding times.
Request a quote or discuss your requirements
Contact us for a quote or to discuss how we can tailor our services to meet your analysis requirements.
- Email customerservice@measurement.gov.au
- Read our terms and conditions
- For general enquiries phone: 1300 722 845
Read more
- Find out more about our environmental testing and analytical capabilities
- Find out about our chemical reference materials
Connect with us
- Join us on Facebook @NMIAustralia
- Follow us on Twitter @NMIAustralia
- Follow the National Measurement Institute on LinkedIn
Contact us
- Email: customerservice@measurement.gov.au
- For general enquiries or updates on your work order phone: 1300 722 845

- National Measurement Institute
Last updated: 8 December 2020
Content ID: 64610