Teledyne Leeman Labs Blog

Whether it’s for a long holiday weekend or a plant shutdown, instrumentation sometimes needs to be turned off for an extended period. If you and your colleagues will be away from your work for more than a few days, there are steps you can take to ensure a smooth startup when you get back to the lab.

President Biden’s Executive Order 13990 directed the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency to undergo a policy and regulation review of changes to the Clean Air Act set forth during President Trump’s administration. The order instructed the EPA to suggest revisions and/or cancellation of regulations and policies that at first glance do not seem to be in the best interest of public health.

Cold Vapor Atomic Florescence Spectroscopy (CVAF)

In contrast to most cold vapor atomic absorption (CVAA) systems, the desirable characteristics of CVAFS-based mercury analyzers include:

Teledyne Leeman Labs completed a study using its Hydra II_C mercury analyzer in Volatile Hydrocarbon (VHC) mode to determine the total mercury in kerosene. We published a technical note that demonstrates the capabilities of the Hydra II_C to determine the level of mercury by direct combustion of the kerosene. The system was also configured with an enhanced moisture control system.

The Hydra II_C is an independent standalone analyzer that uses Cold Vapor Atomic Absorbance (CVAA) spectroscopy to obtain reliable quantitative data from simple to complex matrices by direct combustion combined with a proprietary catalyst to remove interfering compounds such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides. The biggest advantage of the Hydra II_C is that no sample preparation is required before analysis. And, because no sample preparation is required; the cost and hassle of dealing with waste disposal is avoided.

Mercury Analysis Systems

In our previous blog post “What is Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption (CVAA) Spectroscopy?” (HERE), we discussed CVAAS as a primary technique for mercury analysis and determination. In this post, we will describe Teledyne Leeman Labs’ mercury analyzers (analysers outside of the US and Canada) that use the CVAAS process.

Leeman Labs offers two CVAA systems for mercury determination: the Hydra II_AA , which is an entry-level CVAA system that can detect mercury limits of less than 5.0 ng/L with a usable range of 5 ng/L to 1 mg/L; and the QuickTrace® M-7600 CVAA mercury analyzer, which is a dual-beam system capable of ultra-trace detection limits of less than 0.5 ng/L.

Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy or CVAAS is one of the primary techniques for mercury analysis. Introduced in 1968 by Hatch and Ott, CVAAS is now the reference method for drinking water monitoring under the Safe Drinking Water Act passed in 1974, and amended in 1986 and 1996. The technique was introduced to the market following the first commercially available atomic absorption spectrometer, which measures quantities of chemical elements present in environmental samples.

Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) determines the quantities by “measuring the absorbed radiation by the chemical element of interest. This is done by reading the spectra produced when the sample is excited by radiation.”[i] CVAAS was born when Hatch and Ott used an attachment for a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer that enabled the reduction of Hg2+ in a solution to ground state atoms (Hg0). The ground-state mercury atoms were then transported to an optical cell and detector for measurement. Shortly after Hatch and Ott introduced the technique to the market, the United States EPA adopted CVAAS for the determination of mercury in water, soil and fish.