Equipment for analysis of trace mercury in treated water

该提案旨在获得一种分析仪器，用于分析水中的痕量汞浓度。这一工具将支持一个迅速发展的研究方案，该方案侧重于开发新技术，以减少汞向环境的排放。世界上有许多地方由于过去的工业活动而将汞排放到环境中，导致汞在土壤和沉积物中积累。这种汞可以在几十年内缓慢释放，不断进入食物链。由于汞的毒性非常高，世界各地的监管压力越来越大，要求将污染场地的汞排放限制在非常低的浓度。我们的研究项目旨在开发具有成本效益的管理方法，以尽量减少这种剧毒污染物的释放，并防止生物区系的吸收。目前正在开展研究，以评估稳定技术的有效性，这些技术限制了汞向环境的长期释放。这些技术涉及将活性介质与汞污染的沉积物和土壤共混，以最大限度地减少汞的释放及其转化。所申请的设备将通过金浓缩和冷蒸气原子荧光技术，以自动化、快速的方式对极低浓度的汞进行分析。该设备将提供亚纳克/升范围的分析。需要这些低检测限来评估拟议的稳定化方法是否能够有效地将汞控制在保护环境的浓度。

This proposal is directed toward acquisition of an analytical instrument for the analysis of trace concentrations of mercury in water. This instrument will support a rapidly growing research program focused on the development of novel technologies to reduce the flux of mercury to the environment. There are numerous locations in the world where mercury has been released to the environment due to past industrial activities, resulting in accumulation of mercury in soils and sediments. This mercury can then be released slowly over many decades, continuously entering the food chain. Because of the very high toxicity of mercury, there is increasing regulatory pressure around the world to limit the release of mercury from contaminated sites to very low concentrations. Our research program is directed at developing cost effective management approaches to minimize the release of this highly toxic contaminant and prevent uptake into biota. Studies are being conducted to assess the effectiveness of stabilization techniques, which limit the long-term release of mercury to the environment. These techniques involve co-blending reactive media with mercury contaminated sediments and soils to minimize release of mercury and its transformations. The equipment requested will provide analyses of very low concentrations of mercury in an automated, rapid manner by employing gold concentration followed by cold-vapour atomic fluorescence. The equipment will provide analyses in the sub nanogram per liter range. These low detection limits are required to evaluate whether the proposed stabilization approaches can effectively control mercury at concentrations that are protective of the environment.