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

Abstract

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.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Analytical Development, Science and Technology
  2. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Wasteform Processing Technology. Environmental Stewardship
  3. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL). Chemical Processing Technologies. Environmental Stewardship
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
OSTI Identifier:
1476268
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1501350
Report Number(s):
SRNL-L4130-2017-00007
Journal ID: ISSN 0236-5731; PII: 6085
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC09-08SR22470; DE-AC09-08SR22470
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 318; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0236-5731
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY; atomic fluorescence; propylation; organomercury; purge and trap; nuclear waste

Citation Formats

Boggess, Andrew J., White, Thomas L., Jones, Mark A., Bannochie, Christopher J., Ekechukwu, Amy A., and Wilmarth, William R. Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9.
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Boggess, Andrew J., White, Thomas L., Jones, Mark A., Bannochie, Christopher J., Ekechukwu, Amy A., & Wilmarth, William R. Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation. United States. doi:10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9.
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Boggess, Andrew J., White, Thomas L., Jones, Mark A., Bannochie, Christopher J., Ekechukwu, Amy A., and Wilmarth, William R. Tue . "Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation". United States. doi:10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1476268.
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@article{osti_1476268,
title = {Simultaneous sub-picogram speciation of methylmercury and ethylmercury in caustic nuclear tank waste using direct aqueous propylation},
author = {Boggess, Andrew J. and White, Thomas L. and Jones, Mark A. and Bannochie, Christopher J. and Ekechukwu, Amy A. and Wilmarth, William R.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9},
journal = {Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry},
number = 1,
volume = 318,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {8}
}
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DOI:  10.1007/s10967-018-6085-9
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