MERCURY QUANTIFICATION IN SOILS USING THERMAL DESORPTION AND ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY: PROPOSAL FOR AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF ANALYSIS

Despite the considerable environmental importance of mercury (Hg), given its high toxicity and ability to contaminate large areas via atmospheric deposition, little is known about its activity in soils, especially tropical soils, in comparison with other heavy metals. This lack of information about Hg arises because analytical methods for determination of Hg are more laborious and expensive compared to methods for other heavy metals. The situation is even more precarious regarding speciation of Hg in soils since sequential extraction methods are also inefficient for this metal. The aim of this paper is to present a technique of thermal desorption associated with atomic absorption spectrometry, TDAAS, as an efficient tool for quantitative determination of Hg in soils. The method consists of the release of Hg by heating, followed by its quantification by atomic absorption spectrometry. It was developed by constructing calibration curves in different soil samples based on increasing volumes of standard Hg2+ solutions. Performance, accuracy, precision, and quantification and detection limit parameters were evaluated. No matrix interference was detected. Certified reference samples and comparison with a Direct Mercury Analyzer, DMA (another highly recognized technique), were used in validation of the method, which proved to be accurate and precise

Accumulation and oxidation of elemental mercury in tropical soils.

The role of chemical and mineralogical soil properties in the retention and oxidation of atmospheric mercury in tropical soils is discussed based on thermal desorption analysis. The retention of gaseous mercury by tropical soils varied greatly both quantitatively and qualitatively with soil type. The average natural mercury content of soils was 0.08 ± 0.06 lg g 1 with a maximum of 0.215 ± 0.009 lg g 1. After gaseous Hg0 incubation experiments, mercury content of investigated soils ranged from 0.6 ± 0.2 to 735 ± 23 lg g 1, with a mean value of 44 ± 146 lg g 1. Comparatively, A horizon of almost all soil types adsorbed more mercury than B horizon from the same soil, which demonstrates the key role of organic matter in mercury adsorption. In addition to organic matter, pH and CEC also appear to be important soil characteristics for the adsorption of mercury. All thermograms showed Hg2+ peaks, which were predominant in most of them, indicating that elemental mercury oxidized in tropical soils. After four months of incubation, the thermograms showed oxidation levels from 70% to 100%. As none of the samples presented only the Hg0 peak, and the soils retained varying amounts of mercury despite exposure under the same incubation conditions, it became clear that oxidation occurred on soil surface. Organic matter seemed to play a key role in mercury oxidation through complexation/stabilization of the oxidized forms. The lower percentages of available mercury (extracted with KNO3) in A horizons when compared to B horizons support this idea

Mercury content in soils of southeastern Brazil without anthropogenic influence and its correlation with soil characteristics.

A correlação entre as características físicas e químicas do solo e o teor de mercúrio natural é importante para identificar aquelas que mais influenciam na retenção desse elemento nesses solos e sua distribuição nos diversos compartimentos ambientais. Esse estudo teve por objetivos determinar o teor de Hg de solos sem influência antropogênica e correlacionar esse teor com as características físicas e químicas dos solos. A relevância deste trabalho se deve ao fato que a maioria das pesquisas é focada em solos contaminados e, em caso de solos tropicais, as pesquisas são ainda mais escassas. As características físicas e químicas de diferentes solos de mata natural do Estado de Minas Gerias e de um solo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro foram correlacionadas com os teores naturais de Hg dos solos. O teor de Hg foi determinado empregando-se o analisador direto de Hg DMA-80. A faixa de concentração de Hg encontrada foi de 0 a 215 μg kg-1 com média de 81 μg kg-1. O teor de Hg dos solos correlacionou-se principalmente com o teor de argila e o pH do solo. Não houve correlação entre o teor de Hg e o de C. Para solos com teores mais altos de Hg e mesma textura, a capacidade de troca catiônica passa a ser uma variável importante.Correlation between physical and chemical characteristics of soils and their natural mercury content is important for identifying the parameters that most influence Hg retention in these soils and its distribution in different environmental compartments. The aim of this study was to quantify the Hg content of tropical soils without anthropogenic influence and correlate it with physical and chemical soil characteristics. The present study is relevant because most research focuses on contaminated soils and, in the case of tropical soils, research is even more limited. Therefore, different soils from natural forests of southeastern Brazil were characterized and the results of chemical and physical characterization were correlated with soil Hg content. Mercury content was determined through the direct Hg analyzer DMA-80. Mercury concentrations in soils were between 0 and 215 μg kg-1 and the average was 81 μg kg-1. Soil Hg content correlated mainly with the clay content and soil pH. There was no correlation between Hg content and C content. For soils with higher levels of Hg and the same texture, cation exchange capacity becomes an important variable

Quantification and speciation of mercury in soils from the Tripuí Ecological Station, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Contents of total mercury, organic carbon, total sulfur, iron, aluminum and grain size and clay mineralogy were used along with Pearson’s correlation and Hg thermal desorption technique to investigate the presence, distribution and binding behavior of Hg in soils from three depths from the Tripuı´ Ecological Station, located near Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The soils studied had predominantly medium and fine sand texture (0.59–0.062 mm), acid character and Hg contents ranging from 0.09 to 1.23 Ag/g. The granulometric distribution revealed that Hg is associated with coarse sand (2–0.59 mm) and silt and clay (b0.062 mm) and presents similar Hg concentrations in both fractions. Mercury distribution in soil profiles showed that Hg was homogeneously distributed throughout the depths at most sites. Hg thermal desorption curves show that mercury occurs not only as Hg2+ predominantly bound to organic components in most of the samples, but also in the form of cinnabar in some. Pearson’s correlation confirmed that mercury is associated with organic matter and sulfur and possibly with sulfur-bearing organic matter in most samples