title: Development of a particle-trap preconcentration-soft ionization mass spectrometric technique for the quantification of mercury halides in air.
abstract: Measurement of oxidized mercury, Hg(II), in the atmosphere poses a significant analytical challenge as Hg(II) is present at ultra-trace concentrations (picograms per cubic meter air). Current technologies are sufficiently sensitive to measure the total Hg present as Hg(II) but cannot determine the chemical speciation of Hg(II). We detail here the development of a soft ionization mass spectrometric technique coupled with preconcentration onto nano- or microparticle-based traps prior to analysis for the measurement of mercury halides in air. The current methodology has comparable detection limits (4-11 pg m(-3)) to previously developed techniques for the measurement of total inorganic mercury in air while allowing for the identification of HgX2 in collected samples. Both mercury chloride and mercury bromide have been sporadically detected in Montreal urban and indoor air using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (APCI-MS). We discuss limitations and advantages of the current technique and discuss potential avenues for future research including quantitative trace measurements of a larger range of mercury compounds.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Deeds
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.
authors.forename: Avik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghoshdastidar
authors.affiliation: †Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raofie
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.
authors.forename: Élise-Andrée
authors.initials: ÉA
authors.lastname: Guérette
authors.affiliation: ⊥Centre for Biological Applications of Mass Spectrometry, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tessier
authors.affiliation: †Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.|‡Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada.
authors.forename: Parisa A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ariya
mesh_terms: D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D053000:Analytic Sample Preparation Methods / Q000379:methods*; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D002138:Calibration; D054879:Halogenation; D057230:Limit of Detection; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D008863:Microspheres; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D035501:Uncertainty
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury