MERCURY
Hg
MW: 200.59
METHOD: 6009, Issue 2
CAS: 7439-97-6
6009
RTECS: OV4550000
EVALUATION: PARTIAL
OSHA : C 0.1 mg/m 3 (skin) NIOSH: 0.05 mg/m 3 (skin) ACGIH: 0.025 mg/m 3 (skin)
Issue 1: 15 May 1989 Issue 2: 15 August 1994
PROPERTIES: liquid; d 13.55 g/mL @ 20 °C; BP 356 °C; HP -39 °C; VP 0.16 Pa (0.0012 mm Hg; 13.2 mg/m 3) @ 20 °C; Vapor Density (air=1) 7.0
SYNONYMS: quicksilver
SAMPLING SAMPLER:
SOLID SORBENT TUBE (Hopcalite in single section, 200 mg)
FLOW RATE:
0.15 to 0.25 L/min
VOL-MIN: -MAX:
2 L @ 0.5 mg/m 3 100 L
SHIPMENT:
routine
MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE:
ATOMIC ABSORPTION, COLD VAPOR
ANALYTE:
elemental mercury
DESORPTION:
conc. HNO 3/HCl @ 25 °C, dilute to 50 mL
WAVELENGTH:
253.7 nm
CALIBRATION:
standard solutions of Hg 2+ in 1% HNO 3 0.1 to 1.2 µg per sample
SAMPLE STABILITY:
30 days @ 25 °C [1]
RANGE:
FIELD BLANKS:
2 to 10 field blanks per set
ESTIMATED LOD: 0.03 µg per sample
MEDIA BLANKS: at least 3 per set
PRECISION (Sr):
0.042 @ 0.9 to 3 µg per sample [4]
ACCURACY RANGE STUDIED:
0.002 to 0.8 mg/m 3 [2] (10-L samples)
BIAS:
not significant
ˆ ): not determined OVERALL PRECISION (S rT ACCURACY:
not determined
APPLICABILITY: The working range us 0.01 to 0.5 mg/m 3 for a 10-L air sample. The sorbent material irreversibly collects elemental mercury. A prefilter can be used to exclude particulate mercury species from the sample. The prefilter can be analyzed by similar methodology. The method has been used in numerous field surveys [3].
INTERFERENCES: Inorganic and organic mercury compounds may cause a positive interference. Oxidizing gases, including chlorine, do not interfere.
OTHER METHODS: This replaces method 6000 and its predecessors, which required a specialized desorption apparatus [4,5,6]. This method is based on the method of Rathje and Marcero [7] and is similar to the OSHA method ID 145H [2].
NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), Fourth Edition, 8/15/94
