If you are interested in analyzing methyl mercury as well as total Hg, polyethylene is definitely not a good choice as methyl mercury will diffuse through quite rapidly. Teflon might be better but you should search explicitely for permeability for methyl mercury. With respect to permeability, glass is definitely the best choice (but also look for the caps! no PE here as well...). Acidification is definitely a good choice with glass.

I am using glass bottles which were preheated and then washed with nitric acic (analytically pure). Then I gave 1 ml of a chromatic solution into the bottles. It is for the conservation of the probe.

You can use Nalgene or polypropylene bottles

Use glass and PE as well . The most important is to clean them first with nitric acid. Mercury is very sensitive for contamination

Most literature said PE or PP bottles for metals. Our labor advises polypropylene (PP) for the analysis with ICP-MS.

Samples must be collected into rigorously cleaned fluoropolymer bottles with fluoropolymer orfluoropolymer-lined caps.  Glass bottles may be used if Hg is the only target analyte.  It is critical that the bottles have tightly sealing caps to avoid diffusion of atmospheric Hg through the threads. Polyethylene sample bottles must not be used. It can preserved by adding either 5 mL/L of pretested 12N HCl or 5 mL/L BrCl solution to the sample bottle.  Preserved samples are stable for up to 90 days of the date of collection.

For MeHg Samples must not be stored acidified, or (CH3)2Hg will decompose to CH3Hg. Samples should be kept out of light, or (CH3)2Hg will decompose to CH3Hg. Samples must not be stored in plastic containers. Refer SOP 1630 USEPA.

I add my vote to HNO3-washed glass. Divalent cations bind to glass unless HNO3 is added to keep the pH below 2.0. We use glass-stoppers as well, with a very thin coating of silicone grease on the stoppers.  Store in the dark until analysis.

I use only clean containers for collecting samples. There are many studies related to the sampling of different container (fluoropolymer, borosilicate glass, ‘plastic’ bottle ...). Independently of the container should make sure that they are well isolated from the environment. The most important thing is to be followed precisely the methodology and the type of container that is included there.

Best one is PTFE polymenr

Dear professor you can use better one is glass bottle  

Dear sir/ madam

You are the collecting the water samples for  Hg, better use Glass and teflon bottle 

Reg,

Dr. N.Prakash

Best solution is Teflon but that is little too expensive or according to some colleagues and providers of aanalytical equipment cheaper choice are fluorinated plastics such as fluorinated polyethylene (FLPE ). FLPE bottles are used for transportation of interlaboratory comparison samples from Brooks Rand for analysis of THg and MeHg.

Our lab used glass bottles for a long period of time without problems but now I would prefer FLPE.

Acidification of sample depends on your analytical methods - it stabilizes mercury btu it may coagulate dissolved organic matter which may cause problems...

Hi Gretchen Lescord

First off, let me say that I agree with Tomas Navratil .

I would also recommend that you consult this paperr, which compares protocols for sampling Hg and compares bottle usage. As a mercury scientist I will say that mercury is one of the most challenging elements to work with so if this protocol is sufficient for trace levels of Hg, it should also work for other metals if those are of interest as well. The only one to be wary of is arsenic as I know the standard practice is avoiding glass in that case. The US EPA 1631 method is also a classic method worth a read.

Article Sample collection, filtration and preservation protocols for...

G. E. M. Hall

I'm also very close by in Ottawa where I did my PhD in Dr. Alexandre Poulain's lab so feel free to reach out further should you need any help with your Hg analyses!

Teflon

I have worked with solid mining waste and the HPDE high density bottles work well if you are not going to store for a long time. Much better are fluorinated HPDEs and they are less expensive than fluoropolymer bottles. If this is the case for ethyl or methyl mercury samples, glass bottles are better.

Hi, the best protocol for collecting waters for mercury and MeHg would be:

Material: teflon

method : collect the water samples in teflon bottles previously cleaned by detergent followed by 10% nitric acid Hg-free of or purified and rinsed with DDI water 3 times. the bottles must be dried in a forced flow hood to avoid contamination. the clean bottles must be stored in double plastic bags type zipbag until use.

in the field, follow the protocol clean hands-dirty hands. The dirty hands should rinse the bottles three times with water from the sampling point before collecting the sample. Once the samples have been collected, they must be preserved by adding mercury-free HCl (I recommend the brand JPBacker) until pH

For mercury you can use high density polyethylene plastic bottle or borosilicate glass bottle, both wide mouth. (no metal cover). It is preserved with potassium dichromate and nitric acid up to pH 2. It is preserved at 4 ° C. if you used the first package you can only keep up to 14 days and if it is the second case up to 28 days

Method 1631 of the US EPA recommends HDPE and PP from an economic and conservation perspective. If the economic means allow it then, the fluorinated propane ethene copolymer (FEP) can be used

Better to use wheaton wide moth glass bottles with teflon caps for collecting HG samples

May I asked why teflon is a better Muhammad Ismail option than other option like polypropylene tube

Polypropylene bottle is better one. Before storing water you have clean with dilute nitric acid to remove any physiosorbed metal salts.

Dear Gretchen Lescord

Teflon is suitable in terms of sustainability but however it is expensive than Glass and polyethene.