Simple mercury determination using an enclosed quartz cell with cold vapour-atomic absorption spectrometry

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Traditional methods for total inorganic mercury (Hg) determination often require large sample volumes and significant reductant, increasing costs and waste.
• Cold vapour-atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) is a standard technique for Hg analysis, but improvements in efficiency and cost-effectiveness are desirable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simplified and more economical method for quantifying total inorganic mercury (Hg) in aqueous solutions.
• To assess the performance of the new method in terms of precision and resource consumption compared to existing official procedures.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel analytical protocol utilizing an enclosed quartz cell with cold vapour-atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS).
• Optimization of reaction conditions to minimize sample volume and reductant usage.
• Comparative analysis of precision against conventional CV-AAS techniques.

Main Results:

• The proposed method successfully determines total inorganic mercury (Hg) in solution.
• Significant reductions in sample volume and reductant requirements were achieved.
• The optimized method demonstrated precision comparable to conventional CV-AAS, validating its reliability.

Conclusions:

• A simple, cost-effective, and efficient method for total inorganic mercury (Hg) determination has been established using an enclosed quartz cell with CV-AAS.
• This method offers a viable alternative to official procedures, reducing environmental impact and operational costs.
• The technique provides high precision, making it suitable for routine mercury analysis.