Mercury Analysis in Water – Avoid Background Contamination

Posted by: chrisball | Posted on: April 16th, 2012 | 0 Comments

It is imperative to keep the background level under control otherwise you fail the QC automatically because of it. The high mercury background can come from the following sources: Deionized water Hydrochloric acid Tin(II) chloride Bromine solution Hydroxylamine hydrochloride Containers Carrier gas — argon Your lab environment Personal hygiene

How to lower the background Use highest purity available for the chemicals Keep the concentrations as low as possible Use clean containers Boil your reductant and then purge it Filter your argon carrier gas Operate in environment Change gloves often to avoid cross contamination.