Occurrence of Volatile Metal and Metalloid Species in Landfill and Sewage Gases

J Feldmann, A V Hirner

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147 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Speciation of volatile metals and metalloids in the environment is extensively described in literature. In order to investigate unstable volatile organometallics, on-line coupling of GC with ICP-MS was used. Preliminary results for gases of sewage sludge fermentation at thermophilic and mesophilic conditions are compared with the metal and metalloid speciation in landfill gases. In each case 20 L gas were sampled by cryogenic trapping. The species were identified by element-specific detection either by retention time of standards or by calculation of the boiling point correlation. Characteristic of the separation is the linear correlation of boiling point (bp/degrees C) versus retention time (rt/min) (bp = 6.39*rt -109.2, r(2) = 0.9926). The amounts of total volatile elements are estimated by semi-quantification. Cd, Sn, Hg, Pb (sewage gas) and Se, Te, Hg, Pb (landfill gas) were determined in the range of ng m(-3) level; As, Sb, Te and Bi (sewage gas) and As, Sn, Sb and Bi (landfill gas) in the mu g m(-3) level range.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)339-359
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry
Volume60
Issue number2-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1995

Keywords

  • volatile organometallics
  • GC-ICP-MS
  • landfill gas
  • sewage gas
  • speciation
  • plasma-mass-spectrometry
  • atomic-absorption spectrometry
  • organometallic compounds
  • atmospheric mercury
  • hydride generation
  • arsenic compounds
  • inorganic tin
  • lake surfaces
  • sediments

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