Abstract
Losses of mercury and cadmium in aqueous solution during storage were studied under various conditions. When distilled water containing mercury at a concentration of 6-10 ngHg/ml was stored at 20°, the mercury level decreased to 70% of the initial level after 20 hr, but when stored at 0°or 4°the loss was small. The mercury lost from the distilled water was mostly due to volatilization and could not be recovered by washing the container with nitric acid. When river water filtered through a membrane filter (0.45 μm) was used as the solution, 95% of added mercury was found in the solution after storage for 7 days at 20°. The mercury which was not detected in the solution was mostly adsorbed on the wall of container and could be recovered by washing the container with nitric acid. Cadmium added to distilled water could be stored without a marked loss during storage for 24 hr even at 20°, while when added to river water free from suspended substances more than 95% of cadmium was retained in the solution after storage for 26 days at 20°.
