Mercury is present in the world around us and once in the atmosphere, mercury can travel long distances and then be deposited into streams and rivers through atmospheric fall out.
A major release of mercury into water and air is through certain industrial processes and improper disposal of mercury containing products.
Once in streams and rivers, mercury generally does not remain suspended in the water column but is deposited in the sediment and can pass through the food chain.
It has been known for hundreds of years that mercury is toxic in large quantities however recent evidence suggests that even low levels of mercury may be hazardous thus it is important that the level of mercury present in different water sources is measured and if necessary controlled.
Mercury can be analysed using the 797 VA Computrace from Metrohm with a gold rotating disk electrode down to around 1ppb in a variety of water matrices.
Voltammetry (VA) is an established technique that is over 80 years old but recent advances made by Metrohm have improved the measuring cell, electrodes and PC control interface so that today VA represents a clean, reliable and robust technique for the determination of numerous heavy metals at low concentrations.
