Determination Of Mercury In Rocks Sediments And Soils By Flameless Atomic Absorption

Author : I. R. Jonasson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Field and Laboratory Methods Used by the Geological Survey of Canada in Geochemical Surveys written by I. R. Jonasson and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Methods and equipment used by the Geochemistry Section, Geological Survey of Canada for the rapid, routine determination of mercury by cold vapour atomic absorption in various materials of geological interest, viz; rocks, soils, sediments, ores and waters, are described in detail. The range of mercury contents which can be covered for solid samples is 2 r'lg to 1000 ng Hg; i. e. 4 ng/g to 2000 ng/g for 0. 500 g samples. The useful range of concentration which can be covered for water samples, including snow, is 0. 01 ng/g to 2. 5 ng/g. Coefficients of variation (arithmetic) for all samples have been calculated. In the range of Hg content: 2-25 ng, CV is 25%; 50-100 ng, CV is 15%; 2150 ng, CV is 10% for example. Negative interferences by a number of metallic elements, in the chemical form in which they exist under the conditions of the method, have been quantitatively investigated. Au, Pd, Pt, Te at microgram levels, interfere significantly when precipitated in elemental form. Se, Cu and Ag which do not precipitate as metals, do not interfere, even at mg levels. Finely powdered sulphur, 215 mg, causes significant interference to the expected Hg signal. Because the levels at which most metals interfere are high relative to their natural abundances, only Te content is an important factor to be considered in routine geochemical analyses for mercury.