FLOW-INJECTION ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY SYSTEM FOR MERCURY DETERMINATION IN WATER

A homemade FIA device for mercury determination in water is presented, as well as the influence of different operation parameters. The metho d is based upon the mercury(ll) ion reduction with SnCl2 to elementary mercury followed by the extraction of the latter from the liquid phas e by means of an air pow, the mercury vapor then being passed into the flow cell of an atomic absorption spectrometer. The measurement sensi tivity is good as the method allows for analyses within 0.01-1 mu g Hg 2+ mL(-1) concentration range. The time required for one determination is approximately 2 minutes as a function of the injected sample volum e with an excellent reproducibility of the determinations and a relati ve standard deviation of 1.02%. This FIA device for Hg2+ determination has been successfully employed for analyzing water samples from chlor osodic industry. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.