Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation

Boggess, Andrew J.; White, Thomas L.; Jones, Mark A.; Bannochie, Christopher J.; Ekechukwu, Amy A.; Wilmarth, William R.

doi:10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9

Title: Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation

Journal Article · 13 August 2018 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9 · OSTI ID:1476268

^[1]; White, Thomas L. ^[1]; Jones, Mark A. ^[1]; Bannochie, Christopher J. ^[2]; Ekechukwu, Amy A. ^[1]; Wilmarth, William R. ^[3]

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.

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Research Organization:: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC09-08SR22470

OSTI ID:: 1476268

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1501350; OSTI ID: 22748228

Report Number(s):: SRNL--L4130-2017-00007; {"PII: 6085","Journal ID: ISSN 0236-5731"}

Journal Information:: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 318; ISSN 0236-5731

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation

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