Abstract
An investigation of the air mercury concentrations in a mercury mine and smelter at Idrija, Solvenia, Yugoslavia, was made by a team from the School of Public Health and Administrative Medicine of Columbia University and from the School of Public Health, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Mercury determinations were made with mercury vapor meters using ultraviolet photometry and with a variation of the iodine-iodide method which is detailed. In the mine the total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.16 to 4.89 mg/m3, and the mercury vapor concentrations from 0.1 to 2.0 mg/m3. The higher values of mercury concentrations obtained in the total mercury determinations indicate that monitoring solely with devices for the determination of mercury vapor may not be adequate for industrial hygiene purposes.