In response to the digital transformation of metrology spearheaded by national and international quality infrastructure bodies, this paper lays the theoretical and methodological foundation for a new paradigm in the calibration of storage tanks within the oil and gas sector. Part I presents a structured framework that integrates the concepts of digital metrology, Industry 4.0, and distributed sensor systems into the domain of volumetric calibration. Emphasis is placed on the role of digital twins, metrological traceability in digital environments, and uncertainty quantification through software automation. The work systematically identifies the building blocks of this paradigm shift, ranging from intelligent infrastructure and real-time monitoring to semantic data integration and predictive analytics, establishing a basis for consistent, interoperable, and automated calibration practices. This foundational perspective serves as a precursor to the practical implementations and applied strategies elaborated in Part II.

In recent years, the application of machine learning to the field of metrology has been increasingly explored. In the evaluation of measurement uncertainty using machine learning, it is generally considered necessary to evaluate it through combining two types of uncertainties: aleatoric uncertainty, which arises from randomness, and epistemic uncertainty, which arises from systematic factors. However, the methods for evaluating these uncertainties have not yet been established. In this study, we evaluate measurement uncertainty in the Vickers hardness measurement using a Convolutional Neural Network. For this evaluation, we employ Monte Carlo Batch Normalization as an approximation of a Bayesian Neural Network to evaluate epistemic uncertainty. As a result, it was found that a reasonable evaluation is possible for materials similar to those in the training data.

In accordance with the Unix philosophy, the implemented software architecture guidelines are designed to prioritise simplicity, modularity and composability. The objective is to develop services that excel in a specific area, with the ability to integrate seamlessly with other services to manage complex tasks. In this paper, we address the issues of interoperability and cross-institutional data sharing by proposing a cloud-native software architecture, the Operation Layer. This innovative solution integrates standalone legacy IT systems and paves the way for a comprehensive digital transformation. Furthermore, the revised and extended digital calibration workflow illustrates the potential of interoperable processes.

Total diet studies (TDS) are recognized as one of the best cost-effective method to assess the chronic dietary exposure of a population and the associated health risk (1). A TDS relies on the analysis of many chemicals in composite food samples representative of the whole diet and prepared as consumed by the population considered. In France, two TDSs have been conducted on the general population: the 1st TDS (2001-2005) on 29 chemicals, the 2nd TDS (2006-2011) on 445 chemicals. Another TDS ("infant TDS", 2010 -2016) focused specifically on children under 3 years of age and treated 670 chemicals. In 2018, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Anses) launched a 3rd TDS on the general population, in order to assess trends in the contamination of foods and in the exposure, but also to make a first assessment for chemicals that were not included previously. More than 300 chemicals are targeted in the 3rd TDS (trace elements, persistent organic pollutants, mycotoxins, pesticide residues, etc.). However, by taking into account new multi-elemental and multi-residue analytical methods, results for up to 600 chemicals could be expected. Food items have been selected from the third French Individual and National Food Consumption (INCA3) survey (2014-2015) (2), so as to be representative of the French diet, on the basis of consumer rates, consumption levels and expected contamination. Then a stratification has been applied, regarding 1) seasonality of consumption and contamination, and 2) production type (conventional versus organic). Each composite sample was made up of 12 subsamples, selected to be representative of the food item consumption. Several data sources were selected and used to describe precisely the products to sample and the preparation methods. 276 food items were selected from the consumption database. Finally, 724 food samples were defined after stratification, and planned to be collected in three selected French departments. Of these, 719 were successfully collected and prepared between May 2021 and August 2022, with a good general compliance with the initial sampling plan. Analyses of the prepared food samples are in progress and first results are expected in 2024.

In the frame of the marine strategy framework directive, France has developed a method to characterize the status of contaminants in seafood. Taking advantage of national consumption data, contaminant exposure in the French population and contaminant concentrations in seafood over the 2015-2020 period, we conclude on the status of chemical contaminants and marine biotoxins in the four French marine subregions using risk assessment methodologies. At the national level, we find that 38.5% of the contaminants achieve good status for all types of seafood. At the regional level, lead and mercury are found at too high levels in fish of the Mediterranean sea. Similarly, lipophilic and paralytic shellfish toxins in molluscan shellfish of the Mediterranean lagoons are found at levels that could pose a risk to human health. In the Channel and Atlantic marine regions, the contaminants not reaching good status are cadmium in crustaceans and predatory fish, lead in molluscan shellfish, the sum of NDL-PCB in fish and the sum of dioxins, furans and DL-PCB in fish and molluscan shellfish but also lipophilic, paralytic and amnesic shellfish toxins in molluscan shellfish. Our conclusions are in line with the previous assessment cycle (2010-2015) reinforcing the need for action to protect marine ecosystems from chemical pollution and therefore human health.