A new technique for ppt levels of mercury in air & water

Accepted for presentation at #acsBoston on the American Chemical Society Division of Environmental Chemistry August 16-20 2015 at both SCI-MIX and ENVR posters ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: SCI-MIX and General Posters

ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: [ENVR] Division of Environmental Chemistry

CONTROL ID: 2253367

PRESENTATION TYPE: Poster

TITLE: A new technique for ppt levels of mercury in air and  water

AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): John N. Driscoll1, Jennifer L. Maclachlan1

INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States.

ABSTRACT BODY:  Abstract: We reported recently that the photoionization detector (PID) with a 10.6 eV lamp responds to mercury (Hg) with detection limits of 10 ppb. The PID is a non-specific method for Hg since it also has a strong response to VOC’s. Other non-specific methods like UV absorbance and atomic fluorescence use a gold pre concentrator (GPC) to collect Hg by forming a Au/Hg amalgam at room temperature, purging to remove water and VOC’s then rapidly heating to 500oC to release the Hg. We have found that this same technique can be coupled to the PID to produce an analyzer with detection limits in the ppt range. For Hg in water, the hydride method can be used to reduce Hg+2 to form elemental mercury that is concentrated on a GPC and detected by PID. This method has low ppt detection limits. This presentation will describe the method and results in detail.