Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Analytical Development, Science and Technology
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Wasteform Processing Technology. Environmental Stewardship
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Chemical Processing Technologies. Environmental Stewardship
Organomercury species are present at regulatory levels in the tanks at the Savannah River Site. Calibration of methylmercury and ethylmercury ranged three orders of magnitude, generating detection limits of 0.033 pg and 7.50 pg, respectively. Calibration verifications maintained 101 and 103% accuracy, respectively, with mean recovery from waste samples of 104%. Here, dilution volume was optimized to eliminate sample distillation, decreasing method runtime by 337% and reducing total instrumentation footprint by 60.4% compared with current standard methods. Finally, compared with standard methods, this work represents a significant improvement in safety, efficiency, and reproducibility of organomercury speciation, particularly for industrial and nuclear analysis.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC09-08SR22470; DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 1476268
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1501350
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-L4130-2017-00007; PII: 6085
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 318, Issue 1; ISSN 0236-5731
- Publisher:
- SpringerCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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SIMULTANEOUS SUB-PICOGRAM SPECIATION OF MONOMETHYLMERCURY AND MONOETHYLMERCURY IN CAUSTIC NUCLEAR TANK WASTE USING AQUEOUS PROPYLATION