Methodology optimization and application for measurement of gaseous elemental mercury in the amazon atmosphere

Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society

Marins, Rozane V.¹  Lacerda, Luiz D.¹  Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil¹  Almeida, Marcelo D.¹  Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil¹  Paraquetti, Heloisa H. M.¹ 

关键词: gaseous elemental mercury (GEM);    atmospheric mercury;    Amazon atmosphere;    methodology optimization;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0103-50532008000700010

学科分类：化学（综合）

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

The aim of this study was to optimize a semi-automatic methodology using commercial pure gold cartridges (Tekran Inc.) to quantify gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in the Amazon atmosphere. The detection limit was 0.020 ± 0.006 ng Hg. This corresponds to detection limits varying from 0.2 to 0.4 ng Hg m-3, for field sample volumes ranging between 0.1 and 0.05 m3. The similarity between the 9 tested cartridges was evaluated. Under sampling flow rates varying between 0.4 and 2.0 L min-1 no difference among cartridges was observed. The maximum retention capacity of the cartridge (breakthrough) was not reached in experiments with flow rates of 1 or 2 L min-1, and with Hg concentration of 25 ng m-3 and maximum air volume of 150 L. Water condensation on the gold surface showed to be a problem, but that was solved by heating the sample cartridge at 60 ºC during sampling.

【 授权许可】

Unknown