Field evaluation of mercury vapor analytical methods: comparison of the "double amalgam method" and ISO 17733.

In this study, a gold amalgam method called the "Double amalgam method" was compared with the ISO 17733 method for mercury vapor analysis method. In terms of sensitivity and ease of operation, the amalgamation method is superior to the oxidation method. Two parallel samplings were carried out in this research at a button battery factory, where the mercury vapor level in the air was about 0.001 mg/m3 and at a fluorescent lamp factory, where the mercury vapor level was about 0.015 mg/m3. In the both cases, the measured values of the two showed good agreement with each other. As these two workplaces represent typical mercury levels in industries today, the double amalgam method is applicable to working environment measurement.