Automated Methylmercury System

Notice of Intent This is a notice of intent to solicit from a single source. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intends to negotiate a purchase order with BROOKS RAND INSTRUMENTS, SEATTLE WA 98119 for MERX-III-M - Automated Methylmercury System for EPA 1630 as described in the attached Salient Characteristics.

Award will be made in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) and the procedures at FAR Part 12 entitled, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 entitled, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.5 entitled, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items.

BROOKS RAND INSTRUMENTS is, to the USGS¿ knowledge, the only source who that has a system which is designed to meet the laboratory's technical and performance specifications, ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and compliance with EPA Method 1630 for Methylmercury analysis. The purpose of this notice is to satisfy the requirements of FAR Subpart 5.2. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes.

However, all responsible parties may submit a quotation by the closing date of this announcement which shall be considered by the agency. No solicitation will be issued. A determination not to compete this action based upon responses received is in the sole discretion of the Government.

The NAICS code for this action is 334516 Analytical Lab Instruments Responses or inquiries shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to jberberena@usgs.gov and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than 4/9/25.

Salient Characteristics ¿ Fully automated operation, allowing unattended sample analysis once initiated ¿ Purge-in-vial operation to minimize contamination risk and maintain sample integrity ¿ Must accommodate 40mL, 60mL, and 250mL sample vials ¿ Single analytical trap design to eliminate sample bias from multiple traps ¿ Infrared trap heating for precision and consistency in sample analysis ¿ Capillary gas chromatography column for high-resolution separation and methylmercury quantification ¿ Modifiable for total mercury analysis beyond methylmercury detection ¿ Fully compatible with ICP-MS and CVAFS detectors for integration with existing laboratory workflows ¿ Must meet U.S. EPA Method 1630 for methylmercury detection and quantification ¿ Detection limit: ¿ 0.08 pg or 0.002 ng/L for a 40 mL sample ¿ Precision: ¿ 5% at 25 pg (0.625 ng/L); ¿ 10% at 0.5 pg (0.0125 ng/L) ¿ Working range: 0 ¿ 1,000 pg to support various concentration levels ¿ Quantifiable range: 5000x dynamic range (0.005 ¿ 25 ng/L) ¿ Carryover: ¿ 0.1% (<1 pg following a 25 ng/L sample) ¿ Analytical run time: 4.5 ¿ 6 minutes per sample for efficient processing