Page:NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods - 6009.pdf/1

 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