Rapid mercury analysis for the field : Method development and application to natural gas utility sites

A new technique based on traditional concepts has beendeveloped for rapid, on-site analysis of mercury inenvironmental media. In this method, mercury isanalyzed by integration of thermal decomposition,amalgamation, and atomic absorption spectrometry(TDA-AAS). Sample preparation and analysis areessen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water, air, and soil pollution air, and soil pollution, 2001-04, Vol.127 (1-4), p.255-270
Main Authors: BOYLAN, Helen M, RICHTER, Robert C, KINGSTON, H. M, RICOTTA, Angela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis methods
Analytical chemistry
Applied sciences
Atomic absorption spectroscopy
Confidence intervals
Detection limits
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Environmental monitoring
Environmental protection
Exact sciences and technology
Laboratories
Laboratory methods
Mathematical analysis
Mercury
Natural gas
Natural gas utilities
Pollution
Pollution, environment geology
Remediation
Sample preparation
Soil and sediments pollution
Soil pollution
Spectral analysis
Spectrometry
Thermal decomposition
Utilities
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Summary:A new technique based on traditional concepts has beendeveloped for rapid, on-site analysis of mercury inenvironmental media. In this method, mercury isanalyzed by integration of thermal decomposition,amalgamation, and atomic absorption spectrometry(TDA-AAS). Sample preparation and analysis areessentially integrated into a single instrumentalsystem; solid samples can be analyzed directly,without chemical pre-treatment, in an analysis time ofapproximately 5 minutes per sample. A wide range ofstandard reference material has been analyzed byTDA-AAS. Agreement with the certified values at the95% confidence interval for all matrices testedvalidates this technique. Subsequent to validation,TDA-AAS has been used in a series of field studies inconjunction with remediation of mercury-contaminatedsoil at natural gas utility sites. Reasonableagreement has been demonstrated between TDA-AASon-site results and laboratory results usingconventional mercury analysis techniques. Independentlaboratory confirmation of the field data is notrequired as TDA-AAS demonstrates lab-quality resultson-site. This field technique has been shown tosurpass traditional laboratory methods in terms ofboth precision and detection limits. A method for theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Method 7473, has been developed and validatedbased on TDA-AAS methodology (US EPA, 1998).[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0049-6979
1573-2932
DOI:10.1023/A:1005223121931