International field intercomparison measurements of atmospheric mercury species at Mace Head, Ireland

Eleven laboratories from North America and Europe met at Mace Head, Ireland for the period 11-15 September 1995 for the first international field intercomparison of measurement techniques for atmospheric mercury species in ambient air and precipitation at a marine background location. Different manual methods for the sampling and analysis of total gaseous mercury (TGM) on gold and silver traps were compared with each other and with new automated analyzers. Additionally, particulate-phase mercury (Hg(part)) in ambient air, total mercury, reactive mercury and methylmercury in precipitation were analyzed by some of the participating laboratories. Whereas measured concentrations of TGM and of total mercury in precipitation show good agreement between the participating laboratories, results for airborne particulate-phase mercury show much higher differences. Two laboratories measured inorganic oxidized gaseous mercury species (IOGM), and obtained levels in the low picogram m(exp -3) range.