Abstract
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).
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Boylan, H.M., Richter, R.C., Kingston, H.M.‘. et al. Rapid Mercury Analysis for the Field: Method Development and Application to Natural Gas Utility Sites. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 127, 255–270 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005223121931
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005223121931