The results of this study show that the gold amalgamation procedure can be used to achieve quantitative collection of mercury, at isokinetic sampling rates, under source conditions where high SO2 levels make the use of liquid oxidizing trains impractical. Collection efficiencies of greater than 98% are readily obtained, and can be estimated directly from the analytical data. Cleanness of the gold was the most important factor in obtaining high collection efficiencies.Although sampling times of only 15 minutes or less were used in this study, subsequent work has shown that isokinetic sampling times of up to 2 hours can be successfully employed using this method.The authors wish to express thanks to Mary Anne Kalb for the laboratory analyses and to Carl Such for his assistance with various phases of the field work.
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