Mercury and Selenium Environmental Geochemistry Research Programs Established

The PS Analytical Millennium Merlin and Excalibur systems continue to be the instrumentation of choice for laboratories conducting environmental research programs. The Company’s cold vapour and hydride generation atomic fluorescence (AFS) systems offer sub part per trillion detection limits for mercury and the hydride forming elements (As, Se, Sb) and also the capability of speciation when coupled to liquid or gas chromatography. The AFS systems are attractive not only because of the low capital and operating costs compared to inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) but also providing the ability to use instruments in the field with low resource requirements.

The PSA research team offer expertise and supervision to various PhD and research programs. They are currently collaborating with the University of Tasmania conducting analytical measurements of Hg and Se speciation to develop a better understanding of how Hg and Se bio-accumulates within the food chains of the Derwent Estuary, Tasmania. This area is of particular interest due to the elevated levels of heavy metals that have been discharged as waste from industrial sources. Research into Hg bioaccumulation from the abiotic environment into biota continues to form the basis for providing a decision support framework to ensure that current and future management strategies minimise the possibility of human health effects and maintain environmental health. The antagonistic effects of Se in respect of Hg toxicity in the aquatic food chain are being investigated using speciation data generated at PSA using the Millennium Systems.