Dear Antoaneta Ene

The Hg determination received wide interests and many systems were developed to do the job. In the 80's and 70's the sample preparation tokk much times and wet chemistry is required to ensure the presence of Hg as divalent ion to be reduced and analyzed by the outstanding CV AAS. With the development of the DMA-80 much of the manual work was minimized as the method is fully compliant with US EPA method 7473 (Mercury in solids and solutions by thermal decomposition, amalgamation, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry) and with ASTM method D-6722-01 (Standard test method for total mercury in coal and coal combustion residues by direct combustion analysis). Easy maintenance of the DMA-80’s components, such as the catalytic furnace, amalgamator and spectrophotometer, are easily accessible for routine maintenance and cleaning. Therefore there is a real automation and time reduction and minimization of sample preparation. However, the CV may be adapted with low cost and a good glass blower may make th components easily. ... Good luck

Thank you for the thorough explanation!