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TYPE OF MERCURY ANALYSIS |
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PRICE (2012) |
QUANTITATION LIMIT |
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CAN$ |
US$ |
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Total Hg in water |
$ 73.75 |
$ 73.75 |
~ 0.1 ng/L |
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Elemental Hg in water |
$ 92.00 |
$ 92.00 |
~ 0.1 ng/L |
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Total Hg in tissue, vegetation and sediment (Dry samples) |
$ 92.00 |
$ 92.00 |
~ 2.0 ng/g |
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Total Hg in tissue,
vegetation and sediment (Wet samples – includes % loss on drying measurement) |
$102.50 |
$102.50 |
~ 2.0 ng/g |
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Methyl Hg in water |
$214.75 |
$214.75 |
~ 0.02 ng/L |
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Methyl Hg in tissue, vegetation and sediment (Dry samples) |
$214.75 |
$214.75 |
~ 0.02-1.0 ng/g |
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Methyl Hg in tissue,
vegetation and sediment (Wet samples – includes % loss on drying measurement) |
$225.00 |
$225.00 |
~ 0.02-1.0 ng/g |
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Hg - various forms - in air |
Enquire |
Enquire |
~ 5 pg/sample |
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Flett Research Ltd. has been performing ultratrace level mercury measurements since 1991. Our
client base is international and includes universities, provincial, state and
federal government departments, electric power utilities, mining companies and
private consulting firms. We have been the major contractor for the
international 5 year government/multiuniversity ELARP
mercury study (Experimental Lakes Area Reservoir Project) headed by Dr. John
Rudd of the Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg (Fisheries and Oceans). The long
term followup mercury analyses continue to be
performed by us. We were the key mercury lab for the FLUDEX project (FLooded Uplands Dynamics EXperiment)
headed by Dr. Drew Bodaly of the Experimental Lakes Area Research Station.
Since 2006 our lab has been a major participant in the analysis of total and
methyl mercury for the Penobscot River Mercury Study in Maine, USA. Mercury analyses have also been
provided for the METAALICUS Study (Mercury Experiment To
Assess Atmospheric Loading In Canada and the United States). All of the
above are large interdisciplinary research projects which require reliable
trace Hg analyses in water, sediments and tissue.
Our lab successfully participated in the
International Intercalibration Exercise for Mercury Speciation
in Natural Waters, sponsored by EPRI. In 1997 Flett Research Ltd. was one of
only 12 labs in the world selected to take part in a validation study for EPA
Draft Method 1631 ("Total Mercury in Water by Oxidation, Purge and Trap,
and CVAFS"). We have participated in a number of IAEA certifications of
total and methyl mercury in reference materials. Regular and successful
analysis of total mercury in fish proficiency samples from the Mercury Quality
Assurance Program (MQAP – Canadian Food Inspection Agency) indicated a
continuing reliability in our mercury data. Our lab has attained consistently excellent
results in the monthly USGS “Mercury Deposition Interlaboratory
Comparison Program” since being invited to participate in this low level total Hg program in 2007. Total and methyl mercury analyses of water,
tissue and sediments are accredited by the Canadian Association for Laboratory
Accreditation (CALA) to ISO/IEC 17025 (scope of specific tests).
A copy of our accreditation certificate can be seen here.
Total mercury measurements are based upon the
SnCl2 reduction method, gold amalgam trapping, with
fluorescence detection (EPA1631e). Elemental Hg is done similarly, but SnCl2 is
omitted. Total Hg in tissue and sediments is also measured using a DMA-80 analyser according to EPA Method 7473. Methyl mercury
measurements employ an ethylation step followed by
purge and trap/GC separation and fluorescence detection (EPA1630).
We have demonstrated the accurate measurement of Hg in small tissue biopsies (< 50 mg) thus permitting live fish to be non-lethally sampled and returned in good health to the water. This technique will be of interest to agencies that are responsible for continuous monitoring of mercury concentrations in fish populations. (Baker et al. 2004, Evaluation of Non-lethal Methods for the Analysis of Mercury in Fish Tissue, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 133:568-576).
In the course of analysing mercury in
sediment for the Penobscot River Mercury Study, a large discrepancy in
monomethylmercury (MMHg) concentrations between the acid distillation and the
solvent extraction methods was revealed with the data from labs at Battelle
Marine Sciences Laboratory, Trent University and Flett Research Ltd. With the
permission from Penobscot River Mercury Study, research work on the comparison
of these two methods has been presented at the 10th International Conference on
Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) in July 2011 at Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada. The poster can be seen here
as a Acrobat pdf format or here
as a Microsoft PowerPoint format.
Our sampling protocol for the collection of
water samples requires the use of acid cleaned Teflon or glass bottles and
clean room gloves. We will give advice on the correct selection of bottles, and
may be able to supply limited numbers of precleaned
Teflon bottles, or larger numbers of precleaned glass
bottles. Gloves can be supplied to our clients at a cost of $ 2.00 per sampling
location (assuming that there are 2 persons on a field crew involved in sample
collection). If water samples for methyl Hg analysis cannot be shipped to us
cold within 48 hours, then they should be frozen or preserved with low Hg HCl
(pre-analyzed and supplied by Flett Research) to 0.2% .
Salt water samples are acid preserved with H2SO4 to a final concentration of
0.2 %. The HCl or H2SO4 is supplied at a cost of $50.00.
Total Hg
water samples are stable in darkness for 28 days without preservation or refrigeration.
Results are typically available within 2 weeks of sample receipt.
For additional
information, contact Dr. Robert Flett at flett@flettresearch.ca
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Phone/Fax: |
(204) 667-2505 |
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Mailing Address: |
Flett Research Ltd. |
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440 DeSalaberry Ave. |
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
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R2L 0Y7 |
Return to the Flett Research Home Page.
Last Updated January 1, 2012 Flett Research Ltd. E-Mail: flett@flettresearch.ca