Determination of mercury in fluorescent lamp cullet by slurry sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the determination of mercury in fluorescent lamp cullet by slurry sampling ETAAS is proposed. Palladium nitrate was applied as an effective matrix modifier. The furnace programme was optimized. The stability of slurries, mercury partitioning between solid and liquid phases for different media and the influence of palladium modifier were investigated. Using the optimized conditions, a detection limit (based on a 3 sigma criterion) for mercury of 24 ng g(-1) was achieved. For 1.55 and 2.16 mu g g(-1) of mercury in the phosphor sample the RSDs (n = 9) were 8.3 and 8.7%, respectively. Calibration was performed using the standard additions method. The results obtained using this method suggest that the determination of mercury in fluorescent lamp cullet can be carried out effectively and rapidly.