Mercury, Arsenic and Selenium in Environmental Samples – Experience, Performance, Reliability and Support

For more than 30 years P S Analytical (PSA) has been at the forefront of ultra trace determination of mercury (Hg) and the hydride forming elements such as arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) from environmental samples. Understanding the fate and transportation of these elements in environmental matrices is vitally important and this requires accurate analytical measurements of total and speciated analytes.

These elements enter the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources.

The toxicological effects of these elements have long been realised but it has only been recently that there has been an international effort to reduce emissions into the environment. The effective control and reduction of emissions from industry is the ultimate aim and these efforts which need to be accurately monitored.

PSA has analysers based on Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (AFS) to determine these elements in environmental samples. PSA also offers online analysers to monitor emissions from industrial sources such as coal fired power stations, incinerators, crematoria, smelters, petrochemical produced water and chlor-alkali facilities.

Employing AFS as a means of detection has many advantages for these determinations. These include; ultra trace limits of detection, a linear response over several orders, and minimised interferences from other matrix components. PSA’s unique flow cell design, removing troublesome glass or quartz material, results in reduced carryover for faster throughput and less re-runs. Ease of use, reliability and robustness as well as very affordable running costs are hallmarks or the PSA brand.

The three corner stones of PSA’s product range for determinations are the Millennium Merlin, the Millennium Excalibur and the Sir Galahad. The Sir Galahad is typically used for the determination of Hg in gaseous applications such as stack gas, natural gas and air, whilst the Millennium Merlin is used for liquid and solid samples and is based upon cold vapour generation. The Millennium Excalibur employs hydride generation chemistry and is ideal for ultra trace determinations of As, Se and the other hydride elements.

Typical applications include environmental samples such as ground water, drinking water, food stuffs (e.g. milk, rice, fish & tea), soils & sludges, clinical samples (e.g. urine, blood and hair), industrial effluents including concentrated acids.  An additional amalgamation step reduces the detection levels still further. The Millennium Merlin 1631 can run the same applications as the Millennium Merlin but is typically used for water samples where a detection limit below 0.05ppt is required.

With the coupling of the dedicated speciation modules PSA are able to integrate chromatography and digestion processes to facilitate speciation studies for these elements.

Whether it’s in the supply of standard systems or to producing specialised systems tailored to user’s specific requirements, the results and sensitivity of our instrumentation has forged our place as company of choice in the field of analytical instrumentation. With literally thousands of systems in the field today, and support networks in Europe, USA and SE Asia, PSA offers the ideal package of performance, reliability and support.