CEN/TC 264/WG 25 - Mercury measurement methods in ambient air and deposition

This European Standard specifies a method for the determination of the total deposition of mercury. This standard can be used within the framework of the European Council Directive on Ambient Air Quality Assessment and Management and Directive 2004/107/EC. Performance requirements with which the method should comply are specified in this European Standard. The performance characteristics of the method were determined in comparative field validation tests carried out at two European locations.
This European Standard is applicable to background sites that are in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2004/107/EC and to urban and industrial sites.
This standard allows the sampling of deposition using cylindrical deposition gauges, and analysis using Cold Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (CVAAS) or Cold Vapour Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (CVAFS) following existing harmonised and standardised procedures. The standard is applicable for the measurement of mercury in deposition between 1 ng/(m2•d) and 100 ng/(m2•d).
The standard is validated for the deposition range listed in Table 1.
NOTE   The range given is based upon the values measured in the field validation test. The upper and lower limits are the observed minimum and maximum values measured during the field validation tests. The actual lower limits of the working range depends on the variability of the laboratory blank, for bulk and wet-only collectors, and the precipitation. The method can be applied to higher and lower deposition rates provided that the collection characteristics are not compromised.

This European Standard specifies a standard method for determining total gaseous mercury (TGM) in ambient air using cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS), or cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS).
This European Standard is applicable to background sites that are in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2004/107/EC and to urban and industrial sites.
The performance characteristics of the method have been determined in comparative field validation tests carried out at four European locations: two background and two industrial sites. The method was tested for two months at each site over a period of twelve months using automated equipment currently used in Europe for determination of TGM in ambient air.
The working range of the method covers the range of ambient air concentrations from those found at background sites, typically less than 2 ng/m3, up to those found at industrial sites where higher concentrations are expected. A maximum daily average up to 300 ng/m3 was measured during the field trials.
Results are reported as the average mass of TGM per volume of air at 293,15 K and 101,325 kPa, measured over a specified time period, in nanograms per cubic metre.