The Application and Potential Artifacts of Zeeman Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Mercury Stable Isotope Analysis

Xia Lu; Jiangtao Zhao; Xujun Liang; Lijie Zhang; Yurong Liu; Xiangping Yin; Xiangkai Li; Baohua Gu

doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00067

The Application and Potential Artifacts of Zeeman Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Mercury Stable Isotope Analysis

Xia Lu, Jiangtao Zhao, Xujun Liang, Lijie Zhang, Yurong Liu, Xiangping Yin, Xiangkai Li, Baohua Gu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Zeeman cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) has been widely used for environmental mercury (Hg) detection and quantification for decades, but little is known about its utility and potential artifacts in analyzing Hg with varying isotope compositions. We show that each Hg isotope responds differently by CVAAS analysis, with ²⁰⁰ Hg and ²⁰² Hg isotopes exhibiting signal intensities ∼10 times greater than those of ¹⁹⁸ Hg and ²⁰¹ Hg isotopes. However, all Hg isotopes show a linear correlation between Hg concentration and signal intensity, validated by both measurements and theoretical simulations. Zeeman CVAAS could thus offer a convenient, inexpensive tool for determining Hg isotopes, particularly in using one or two enriched Hg isotopes for tracing Hg biogeochemical transformations, such as partitioning, ion exchange, sorption-desorption, and methylation-demethylation in environmental matrices. We also caution that care must be taken when CVAAS is used for quantifying Hg in samples with changing isotope compositions to avoid measurement errors.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	165-170
Number of pages	6
Journal	Environmental Science and Technology Letters
Volume	6
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00067
State	Published - Mar 12 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This research was sponsored by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as part of the Mercury Science Focus Area project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41807477). The isotopes used in this research were supplied by DOE Office of Science, the Isotope Program in the Office of Nuclear Physics at ORNL. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy. gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the DOE.

Funders	Funder number
Office of Biological and Environmental Research
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Oak Ridge National Laboratory	ORNL
National Natural Science Foundation of China	41807477

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10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00067

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title = "The Application and Potential Artifacts of Zeeman Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Mercury Stable Isotope Analysis",

abstract = " Zeeman cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) has been widely used for environmental mercury (Hg) detection and quantification for decades, but little is known about its utility and potential artifacts in analyzing Hg with varying isotope compositions. We show that each Hg isotope responds differently by CVAAS analysis, with 200 Hg and 202 Hg isotopes exhibiting signal intensities ∼10 times greater than those of 198 Hg and 201 Hg isotopes. However, all Hg isotopes show a linear correlation between Hg concentration and signal intensity, validated by both measurements and theoretical simulations. Zeeman CVAAS could thus offer a convenient, inexpensive tool for determining Hg isotopes, particularly in using one or two enriched Hg isotopes for tracing Hg biogeochemical transformations, such as partitioning, ion exchange, sorption-desorption, and methylation-demethylation in environmental matrices. We also caution that care must be taken when CVAAS is used for quantifying Hg in samples with changing isotope compositions to avoid measurement errors.",

author = "Xia Lu and Jiangtao Zhao and Xujun Liang and Lijie Zhang and Yurong Liu and Xiangping Yin and Xiangkai Li and Baohua Gu",

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T1 - The Application and Potential Artifacts of Zeeman Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Mercury Stable Isotope Analysis

AU - Lu, Xia

AU - Zhao, Jiangtao

AU - Liang, Xujun

AU - Zhang, Lijie

AU - Liu, Yurong

AU - Yin, Xiangping

AU - Li, Xiangkai

AU - Gu, Baohua

PY - 2019/3/12

Y1 - 2019/3/12

N2 - Zeeman cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) has been widely used for environmental mercury (Hg) detection and quantification for decades, but little is known about its utility and potential artifacts in analyzing Hg with varying isotope compositions. We show that each Hg isotope responds differently by CVAAS analysis, with 200 Hg and 202 Hg isotopes exhibiting signal intensities ∼10 times greater than those of 198 Hg and 201 Hg isotopes. However, all Hg isotopes show a linear correlation between Hg concentration and signal intensity, validated by both measurements and theoretical simulations. Zeeman CVAAS could thus offer a convenient, inexpensive tool for determining Hg isotopes, particularly in using one or two enriched Hg isotopes for tracing Hg biogeochemical transformations, such as partitioning, ion exchange, sorption-desorption, and methylation-demethylation in environmental matrices. We also caution that care must be taken when CVAAS is used for quantifying Hg in samples with changing isotope compositions to avoid measurement errors.

AB - Zeeman cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) has been widely used for environmental mercury (Hg) detection and quantification for decades, but little is known about its utility and potential artifacts in analyzing Hg with varying isotope compositions. We show that each Hg isotope responds differently by CVAAS analysis, with 200 Hg and 202 Hg isotopes exhibiting signal intensities ∼10 times greater than those of 198 Hg and 201 Hg isotopes. However, all Hg isotopes show a linear correlation between Hg concentration and signal intensity, validated by both measurements and theoretical simulations. Zeeman CVAAS could thus offer a convenient, inexpensive tool for determining Hg isotopes, particularly in using one or two enriched Hg isotopes for tracing Hg biogeochemical transformations, such as partitioning, ion exchange, sorption-desorption, and methylation-demethylation in environmental matrices. We also caution that care must be taken when CVAAS is used for quantifying Hg in samples with changing isotope compositions to avoid measurement errors.

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The Application and Potential Artifacts of Zeeman Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Mercury Stable Isotope Analysis

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