Development of analytical methods to quantify gaseous selenium emissions

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Selenium (Se) is a major inorganic contaminant of concern at many industrial sites in Canada and beyond. One**particularity that distinguishes Se from most other inorganic contaminants is that it forms volatile compounds,**which can escape from impacted sites to the atmosphere by natural processes or as the intentional result of**treatment technologies. Consequently, assessment of Se exchange between industrial sites and the atmosphere**is important for closing Se mass balances at such sites. At this time, though, there are no routine analytical**methods available for measuring Se in air samples, making it impossible to provide accurate assessment of Se**volatilization fluxes. In this proposed project, we will develop and validate analytical methods for the**determination of total gaseous Se in air samples, which will ultimately be used to quantify the mass flux of Se**through volatilization.**The scientific approach for this project is to identify a solid adsorbent material which binds different volatile Se**compounds quantitatively from air samples. The adsorbed Se will then be released by acid digestion and**measured in the resulting samples. The method will be tested at a Se-impacted mining site in Canada, where**significant Se volatilization fluxes are expected to occur. These field tests will determine if the method can**measure the encountered atmospheric Se concentrations accurately, and provide an assessment of the method's**readiness for use in subsequent studies on Se exchange between air and liquid or solid surfaces at industrial**sites.