⚗️ Mercury in water and wastewater — atomic absorption spectrometry after reduction with tin(II) chloride or sodium borohydride, range 0.1–10 µg/l, higher concentrations after dilution; cold vapour technique (CVAAS) in accreditation scopes; PN-EN 1483:2007 (withdrawn standard, replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012)

Physicochemistry PN-EN 1483

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The "Scope" field of the PKN card, in full: "Two methods for determining mercury are given: after reduction with tin(II) chloride or after reduction with sodium borohydride. The choice of method depends on the equipment available and the matrix. Both methods are suitable for determining mercury in water, e.g. drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater, in the concentration range from 0.1 microgram/l to 10 micrograms/l. Dilution of the sample makes it possible to determine higher concentrations" (our translation; no full stop at the end on the card). The description of NS-EN 1483:2007 in the Standard Norge catalogue adds that the method with tin(II) chloride is in Clause 4 and the one with sodium borohydride in Clause 5, that Clause 3 discusses the choice, and that lower concentrations, from 0.001 to 5 µg/l, can be determined with special mercury analysers or by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (EN 13506 or ISO 17852). We did not have the text of the standard (21 pages, English version).

STATUS (cards as of 13.10.2026). The card of PN-EN 1483:2007 (English version) bears the heading "Withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012 - English version": publication 22-05-2007, "Withdrawal date: 21-07-2016", 21 pages, price group L, Health, Environment and Medicine Sector, KT 121 Water Quality — Chemical Tests — Inorganic Substances, "Adopts: EN 1483:2007 [IDT]", "Replaces: PN-EN 1483:2000 - Polish version", ICS 13.060.50. The PKN search under "PN-EN 1483" (13.10.2026) also returns the German version PN-EN 1483:2007 (withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012) and PN-EN 1483:2000 (Polish version, which adopted EN 1483:1997 and ISO 5666-1:1983; withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN 1483:2007 - English version); there is no Polish version of the 2007 edition in the results. The successor, PN-EN ISO 12846:2012 (English version) "Water quality — Determination of mercury — Method using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with and without enrichment" (publication 15-06-2012, 18 pages, KT 121; "Adopts: EN ISO 12846:2012 [IDT], ISO 12846:2012 [IDT]"; "Replaces: PN-EN 12338:2001 - Polish version, PN-EN 1483:2007 - English version, PN-EN 1483:2007 - German version"; amendment Ap1:2016-07 changed the "Replaces" field and the national foreword), has no withdrawal note; its "Scope" field speaks of two methods for determining mercury in drinking water, surface water, groundwater, rainwater and wastewater after appropriate pre-digestion — with an enrichment step by amalgamation of mercury with an adsorbent (e.g. gold/platinum) and without that step. According to the Standard Norge catalogue (13.10.2026), NS-EN 1483:2007 has the status "Withdrawn" dated 1 July 2012 with a reference to NS-EN ISO 12846:2012.

IN THE REGULATIONS. Regulation of the Minister of Health of 22 May 2026 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (Journal of Laws 2026 item 748; status "in force" in the Sejm ELI database, entry into force 24.06.2026): Annex 1, Part B, item 27 — mercury, parametric value 1.0 µg/l; Annex 4, Part B — the method must be able to measure concentrations equal to the parametric value with a limit of quantification of 30 % or less of the parametric value (for mercury — 0.3 µg/l), and the measurement uncertainty for mercury (item 40) is 30 % of the parametric value; the regulation names no standard for mercury. The regulation on the discharge of wastewater (Journal of Laws 2019 item 1311, status "in force"), Annex 12, item 50 "Mercury": atomic absorption spectrophotometry — PN-EN ISO 12846 (detectability 0.1 of the permissible concentration at the sampling point, accuracy and precision ± 30 % at a concentration equal to the detectability) and fluorescence spectroscopy — PN-EN ISO 17852; this standard is not there.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database from the production server, refreshed on 12.10.2026). The notation "EN 1483" (without "ISO" — PN-EN ISO 1483 is a standard on screws) appears in 10 records at 6 laboratories; in the current PCA documents (read on 12–13.10.2026; issues from 04.09.2025 — AB 935 — to 23.07.2026 — AB 649) — in 8 rows at the same laboratories (AB 649 — water and separately wastewater, AB 935 — water and wastewater and separately waste); a search of all downloaded PCA documents found no laboratories outside the database copy, no row with the number is set in bold italics, and no pages are repeated in any document. Notations, always with the year 2007: "PN-EN 1483:2007" — AB 682, AB 877 (next to PN-EN 13211+AC:2006), AB 935 (for waste next to PN-EN 12457-2:2006); "PN-EN 1483:2007 Rozdział 4" (Clause 4) — AB 487; "PN-EN 1483: 2007 pkt. 4" — AB 603; "PN-EN 1483:2007 z wyłączeniem pkt. 4.1; 4.2; 4.4; 4.6" (excluding points 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6) — AB 649. The "Laboratories" tab (search term "PN-EN 1483") shows all 6 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 13.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy and PCA documents). Test object: water intended for human consumption — AB 487; water, water intended for human consumption — AB 603, AB 649 (separately wastewater), AB 682; water, wastewater — AB 935 (separately waste: mercury concentration in mg/l together with PN-EN 12457-2:2006 and mercury content calculated); waste gases — AB 877 (sampling for the determination of total mercury and emission of total mercury calculated, together with PN-EN 13211+AC:2006). Technique: cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) — AB 487, AB 603, AB 649, AB 682, AB 935; AB 877 gives no technique in this entry. Ranges: 0.3–3.0 µg/l — AB 487; 0.30–5.00 µg/l — AB 603; 0.3–2 µg/l (water) and 0.0003–0.2 mg/l (wastewater) — AB 649; 0.0003–0.002 mg/l — AB 682; 0.0015–1 mg/l (water, wastewater) and 0.0010–1 mg/l (waste) — AB 935.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. In the entries with this standard: PN-EN 13211+AC:2006 — AB 877; PN-EN 12457-2:2006 — AB 935 for waste. In other entries of the same laboratories: mercury in water and wastewater according to PN-EN ISO 12846:2012 (0.04–50 µg/l) — AB 935; in-house procedure PB-021 (atomic absorption spectrometry with the amalgamation technique, 0.0003–0.0020 mg/l) — AB 682; in-house procedure PB/LC/06 (HG-ICP-OES; water 0.2–60 µg/l, wastewater 0.0002–0.07 mg/l) — AB 649. Mercury in water and wastewater is determined by 111 laboratories in the database copy (entries with mercury in the test description or parameters and with water or wastewater as the test object, excluding sediments, soils, waste, air, gases, feed, food, cosmetics, fertilisers and biological material): PN-EN ISO 12846 is cited by 44, PN-EN ISO 17852 by 27, PN-EN ISO 17294-2 by 16, PN-EN ISO 11885 by 14, this standard by 5, method EPA 7473 by 3, PN-EN 12338 (replaced according to the card of PN-EN ISO 12846) by AB 539; the other documents are mainly in-house procedures. The determination according to PN-EN ISO 12846, PN-EN ISO 17852 and PN-EN 13211 is described in separate Knowledge Base entries.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — status: the standard has been withdrawn since 21.07.2016 and replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012; AB 935 has both standards for water and wastewater, in different ranges (this standard 0.0015–1 mg/l, PN-EN ISO 12846 0.04–50 µg/l) — check in the report according to which one the result was given. Second — variant: Clause 4 is reduction with tin(II) chloride, Clause 5 with sodium borohydride; AB 487 and AB 603 narrow the citation to Clause or point 4, AB 649 excludes points 4.1, 4.2, 4.4 and 4.6 (we do not know their content), the others do not indicate the variant. Third — range and units: the card gives 0.1–10 µg/l, and higher concentrations after dilution; the upper limits of AB 649 (0.2 mg/l, i.e. 200 µg/l) and AB 935 (1 mg/l) lie above 10 µg/l, and the range of AB 935 starts at 0.0015 mg/l, i.e. 1.5 µg/l — above the parametric value of 1.0 µg/l for drinking water (AB 935 does not list drinking water for this standard); the laboratories give ranges in µg/l or mg/l (1 mg/l = 1000 µg/l). Fourth — test object: the card speaks of water and wastewater, while AB 877 cites the standard for waste gases (with PN-EN 13211) and AB 935 for waste (with PN-EN 12457-2). Fifth — regulations: for mercury in wastewater the regulation lists PN-EN ISO 12846 and PN-EN ISO 17852, not this standard.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the concentrations of tin(II) chloride and sodium borohydride, the preservation and digestion of the sample, the set-up of the measuring system, the wavelength, the calibration, interfering substances or the precision; we do not know the content of points 4.1, 4.2, 4.4 and 4.6. We did not read the content of procedures PB-021 and PB/LC/06.

Method principle

Mercury in water is determined by atomic absorption spectrometry after reduction with tin(II) chloride (Clause 4) or sodium borohydride (Clause 5); the choice of method depends on the equipment and the matrix, and the range 0.1–10 µg/l can be extended upwards by diluting the sample (PKN card, description in the Standard Norge catalogue); in accreditation scopes — the cold vapour technique (CVAAS). WE DO NOT GIVE reagent concentrations or conditions — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Drinking water, groundwater, surface water and wastewater — mercury in the range 0.1–10 µg/l, higher concentrations after dilution (PKN card; withdrawn standard in the current accreditation scopes of 6 laboratories)
• Control of drinking water — parametric value for mercury 1.0 µg/l, limit of quantification ≤ 0.3 µg/l, uncertainty 30 % of the parametric value (Journal of Laws 2026 item 748)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 1483:2007

Title (PL)

Jakość wody — Oznaczanie rtęci — Metoda z zastosowaniem atomowej spektrometrii absorpcyjnej

Title (EN)

Water quality — Determination of mercury — Method using atomic absorption spectrometry

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sample

   Drinking water, groundwater, surface water or wastewater (PKN card); WE DO NOT GIVE the preservation. PN-EN 1483:2007 withdrawn on 21-07-2016 and replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012 (cards as of 13.10.2026).

2. Reduction

   With tin(II) chloride (Clause 4) or sodium borohydride (Clause 5); choice according to equipment and matrix (PKN card, Standard Norge).

3. Measurement

   Atomic absorption spectrometry, in accreditation scopes the cold vapour technique (CVAAS); range 0.1–10 µg/l, higher concentrations after dilution (PKN card).

4. Result

   Mercury concentration in µg/l or mg/l (accreditation scopes); in the report the method variant (Clause 4 or 5).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Mercury and its compounds, tin(II) chloride, sodium borohydride — safety rules of a chemical laboratory and the safety data sheets of the substances
• SUBJECT-MATTER NOTE: standard withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN ISO 12846:2012; for mercury in wastewater the regulation (Journal of Laws 2019 item 1311, Annex 12) lists PN-EN ISO 12846 and PN-EN ISO 17852

Frequently asked questions