Determination of mercury vapour in air using electrothermal atomic-absorption spectrometry with an electrostatic accumulation furnace

Abstract

The “electrostatic accumulation furnace for atomic-absorption spectrometry” technique has been tested for the determination of mercury vapour in the atmosphere. Even if the electrostatic capture of mercury vapour is much more difficult than for particles, an efficiency higher than 90% can be achieved. A calibration procedure is proposed. Under appropriate experimental conditions, a detection limit (signal to noise ratio = 3) of 50 ng m^–3 was obtained.