An Innovative Method to Generate Bromine Monochloride for Trace Hg Analysis

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 111; no. 4; p. 55
• Main Authors: Rohovec, Jan, Navrátil, Tomáš, Nováková, Tereza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Bromine; bulls; Chlorine; Cleaning; Decomposition; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Heat treatment; Hydrochloric acid; Mercury; Overheating; Pollution; Potassium; Reagents; Soil Science & Conservation; Suppliers; Toxicology; United States Environmental Protection Agency; vapors; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Dibromodimethylhydantoin; Bromine monochloride (BrCl); Trace mercury analysis; Sample preservation; Sample storage; Mercury stabilization reagent
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-023-03815-4

This work presents a new method for generating a BrCl solution, starting from the commercially available dibromodimethylhydantoin (DBDMH). This method is notable due to the straightforward, safe and clean performance, being based on a simple addition of DBDMH into aqueous HCl. The whole procedure is finished in about 20 min. An advantage of the proposed method is avoiding of tedious reagents pre-cleaning by prolonged thermal treatment, spontaneous overheating and excessive vapor evolution. The resulting BrCl stabilization reagent is low enough in mercury content to be directly used in trace mercury analysis. A thorough study of the BrCl solutions prepared by this method showed that they conform in all respects to US EPA 1631e/2002 requirements.