Determination of methylmercury and inorganic mercury in whole blood by headspace, cryofocusing gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the determination of different mercury species in whole blood is described. Inorganic mercury (InHg) was determined in 2 ml of standard solutions or blood samples using head space (HS) injection coupled to atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) after treatment with concentrated sulfuric and tin(II) chloride as a reductant agent in a closed HS vial. After stirring, the InHg was converted to elementary mercury and carried with a nitrogen flow through a quartz cell heated at 200 degrees C and the absorbance signal was evaluated by AAS. For the determination of methylmercury (MeHg), 2 ml of a standard solution or a blood sample were treated with 10 mg of iodoacetic acid and 0.4 ml of concentrated H2SO4. Then, the MeHg species were HS-injected into a gas chromatograph (GC), separated on a semicapillary column (AT-1000) with a flow of helium, then carried to the quartz cell heated at 1000 degrees C and detected by AAS. The high content of salts in blood samples, where sodium chloride is the major component (0.14 mol l-1), affected the gas-liquid distribution coefficient of both mercury species in the HS vial. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the ranges 1-20 and 1-125 micrograms Hg l-1 added as InHg and MeHg, respectively. The detection limits for InHg and MeHg were 0.6 and 0.2 microgram Hg l-1, respectively. The relative standard deviations for eleven independent measurements were 5% for both mercury species. Recovery values ranging from 98 to 106% for InHg and from 95 to 105% for MeHg and from 93 to 95% for ethylmercury (EtHg) were obtained. The accuracy of the proposed method was also established by the analysis of certified whole blood samples for InHg and MeHg. No difference between the sum of these two species determined by our procedure and the recommended total mercury concentrations in the certified samples was observed. Results for the determination of MeHg and InHg in 30 controls and 30 dentists are presented to illustrate the practical utility of the proposed method.     

Determination of mercury(II) ion by electrochemical cold vapor generation atomic absorption spectrometry.

A technique for determination of mercury is described; it is based on electrolytic reduction of Hg(II) ion on a graphite cathode, the trapping of mercury vapor and its volatilization into a quartz tube aligned in the optical path of an atomic absorption spectrometer. The electrochemical cell consisted of a graphite cathode and an anode operating with constant direct current for the production of mercury atoms. A pre-activated graphite rod was used as the cathode material. The optimum conditions for electrochemical generation of mercury cold vapor (the electrolysis time and current, the flow rate, the type of electrode and electrolyte) were investigated. The characteristic electrochemical data with chemical cold vapor using NaBH4-acid were compared. The presence of cadmium(II), arsenic(III), antimony(III), selenium(IV), bismuth(III), silver(I), lead(II), lithium(I), sodium(I) and potassium(I) showed interference effects which were eliminated by suitable separation techniques. The calibration curve is linear over the range of 5-90 ng ml(-1) mercury(II). The detection limit is 2 ng ml(-1) of Hg(II) and the RSD is 2.5% (n = 10) for 40 ng ml(-1). The accuracy and recovery of the method were investigated by analyzing spiked tap water and river water.     

Determination of the different states of mercury in seawater near the Vlora and Durres Bays

Because of the toxicity and mobility of organic mercury, there is a need for determination of organic and inorganic mercury at very low concentrations in the environment, especially in seawater. A procedure for extraction and determination of low concentrations of the different states of mercury - total, inorganic, and organic - in seawater, by cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy (CVAAS) is described.Inorganic mercury only was directly reduced to the Hg(0) state by tin(II) chloride under strongly acid conditions (H(2)SO(4)) and mercury metal (Hg(0)) was determined by cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy. Organic and inorganic mercury were extracted, with toluene, as the bromide derivatives and re-extracted, together, into ammonium chloride solution. Organic mercury was converted into inorganic mercury by thermal digestion at 80-90 degrees C in the presence of strong oxidants. These two states of mercury were determined together as total mercury. Inorganic mercury was measured directly after pre-concentration of the sample by toluene extraction. Toluene dissolved in aqueous phase after re-extraction of the sample was removed by heating for 30 min at 80-90 degrees C. Organic mercury was calculated as the difference between total and inorganic mercury.The sensitivity of the method is 0.0001 ng mL(-1) Hg, depending on sample volume.     

Determination of trace chromium(VI) and molybdenum(VI) in natural and bottled mineral waters using long pathlength absorbance spectroscopy (LPAS)

A flow-through solid phase spectrophotometric (SPS) sensing device is proposed for the determination of minoxidil. The analyte is concentrated on Sephadex SP-C25 ion-exchanger packed in a flow cell and it is monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometry at 282 nm, without derivatization reaction. When a HCl (10(-2) mol l(-1))/NaCl (5x10 (-2) mol l (-1)) solution is used as carrier/desorbing solution, the sensor responds linearly in the measuring range of 0.2-7, 0.1-4 and 0.05-2 mug ml(-1) with detection limits of 60, 33 and 6 ng ml(-1) for 600, 1000 and 2000 mul of sample, respectively. The relative standard deviations (%) for these volumes are 0.38, 1.06 and 2.63, respectively. The method was satisfactorily applied to the determination of minoxidil in pharmaceutical preparations and the results were compared with those obtained by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).     

Determination of total mercury and methylmercury in human hair by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry using 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate as a complexing agent.

For the determination of total mercury in hair, an amount (25.0 mg) of hair sample was digested with conc. HNO3 (400 microl) at 90 degrees C for 10 min in a 7-ml teflon microreaction vessel. After digestion, the pH of the acidic hair mixture was adjusted to 5.0-6.0 by NaOH and was then passed through a clean-up Sep-Pak C18 cartridge. To the eluate, 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate (DMPS) and sodium acetate buffer (pH = 6.0) were added to form a mercury-DMPS complex. This complex was preconcentrated on two Sep-Pak C18 cartridges in series, and each cartridge was eluted with methanol and adjusted to 2.00 ml. A portion (50 microl) was introduced into a graphite cuvette and then atomized according to a temperature program. The method detection limit (MDL, 3sigma) was 0.064 (microg g(-1)); the calibration graph was linear up to 7.52 microg g(-1). Good accuracies were obtained when testing two human hair certified reference materials (GBW 09101 and BCR-397). Six real samples were analyzed, and the recoveries were 95.8 - 98.2% with a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 3) < 2.1%. For the determination of methylmercury (CH3Hg+), 25.0 mg of hair sample was extracted with 2.0 mol dm(-3) HCl (1.0 ml) by ultrasonicating for 1 h. The supernatant solution was used for CH3Hg+ analysis and the hair residue was used for the analysis of inorganic mercury (Hg2+). The MDL of CH3Hg+ was 0.068 microg g(-1); the calibration graph was linear up to 6.00 microg g(-1). Six real samples were analyzed, and the recoveries were 96.0-99.2% with RSD (n = 3) < 2.3%. The sum of the concentrations of CH3Hg+ and Hg2+ was very close to that of the total mercury measured with a relative error within 3.6%. The proposed method can be accurately applied to the measurement of CH3Hg+, Hg2+, and total mercury in hair samples.     

Low-level mercury determination with thiamine by fluorescence optosensing

A sensitive fluorescence optosensing method for the determination of Hg(II) in water samples is described. The method, using a flow injection technique, is based on the immobilization on a non-ionic-exchanger solid support (packed in a flow cell placed in a conventional fluorimeter) of the thiochrome formed by the oxidation of thiamine with Hg(II) in a continuous flow carrier at pH 8.1. Experimental parameters such as the solid support, the carrier pH, the thiamine concentration and the flow-rate were investigated to select the optimum operating conditions. The proposed optosensor showed a relative standard deviation of + 3.0% for ten replicates analysis of 100 ng ml(-1) of mercury(II). A detection limit of 3 ng ml(-1) for mercury(II) was achieved for 4-ml sample injections. A detailed study of interferences (possible elements present in natural waters) demonstrated that this optosensing method is virtually specific for this metal, because it allows the determination of mercury in the presence of relatively large amounts of other heavy metals and compounds present in natural waters, such as Mg(II) or Ca(II). The method was successfully applied to the determination of Hg(II) in spiked samples of mineral, tap and sea water.     

On-line preconcentration of mercury by sorption on an anion-exchange resin loaded with 1,5-bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide and determination by cold-vapour inductively coupled plasma atomic emission

1,5-Bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide (PSTH) immobilized on an anion-exchange resin (Dowex) has been used for the on-line preconcentration of mercury from biological samples and waters prior to its determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The metal was eluted from the column using a solution of 2 M HNO(3) and mixed on-line with SnCl(2). The optimum experimental conditions were evaluated for the continuous preconcentration of Hg, the direct generation of mercury vapour and the final determination of this element by ICP-AES. The enrichment, together with low blank levels of the optimized procedure, allow the simple determination of this toxic element at concentrations down to a few nanograms per milliliter. The proposed method has a linear calibration range 5-1000 ng ml(-1) of mercury, with a detection limit of 4 ng ml(-1) (S/N=3) and a sampling rate of 40 h(-1), investigated with a 9 ml sample volume. The precision of the method (evaluated as the relative standard deviation obtained after analyzing ten series of ten replicates) was +/-3.6% at the 10 ng ml(-1) level of Hg(II) and +/-1.3% at the 100 ng ml(-1) level. The accuracy of the method was examined by the analysis of certified reference materials.     

Selective stripping voltammetric determinations employing cells for electrolysis with simultaneous ion-exchange or solvent extraction

Cells have been designed for stripping-voltammetry analyses employing graphite working electrodes and mercury film electrodes on a graphite support, permitting ion-exchange or solvent extraction separation simultaneously with the pre-electrolysis. The ion-exchange separation was tested on the determination of mercury in the presence of excess of copper(II), lead and cadmium and on the determination of bismuth in the presence of excess of copper(II). The solvent extraction separation was tested on the determination of mercury(II) in the presence of copper(II), lead and cadmium and the determination of copper(II) in the presence of bismuth. Very good results were obtained by using ion-exchange, where the sensitivity and precision of the determination are comparable with those obtained in the determinations without separation, the separation efficiency being very high, limited virtually only by the capacity of the ion-exchanger used. The solvent extraction separations yielded poorer results: the sensitivity of the determination is decreased substantially, the separation efficiency is not very high and difficulties arise from the adsorption of the organic phase on the electrode surface.     

Radiometric determination of submicrogram amounts of mercury

A radiometric method for the determination of submicrogram amounts of mercury (down to 5 x 10(-10)g ml ) is described. The method is based on the exchange reaction between mercury and silver-110m dithizonate. Only palladium, gold, silver, and large amounts of copper and bismuth interfere in the determination, and must be removed.     

Highly selective determination of total mercury(II) sub microgram per liter by β-cyclodextrin polymer solid-phase spectrophotometry using 1,3-di-(4-nitrodiazoamino)-benzene

A highly selective β-cyclodextrin polymer solid-phase spectrophotometric (β-CDPSPS) method is described for the determination of total mercury(II) sub microgram per liter. The methods are based on the chromogenic reaction of mercury(II) with 1,3-di-(4-nitrodiazoamino)-benzene (DNAAB) loaded on β-cyclodextrin polymer (β-CDP). In pH 10.0 borax buffer, Hg(II)-DNAAB complex on β-CDP gives a positive peak at 445 nm and a negative one at 545 nm. The absorbance was measured at two peaks and the net absorbance (A_s) was calculated between the difference of positive and negative peaks. The apparent molar absorptivity is 1.1 × 10⁷ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ (82-fold of it in solution) for 100 ml sample and the linear range of the determination is 0.062-250 μg l⁻¹. The selectivity for coexistent ions was greatly improved, only silver(I) interfered with the mercury determination and the amount of the others was reduced 25-1000 times compared to previous solution method. The interference caused by silver(I) can be eliminated using tri-n-octylmethylammonium bromide as masking agent. The detection limit and the quantification limit were found to be 0.024 and 0.062 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviation of ten replicate determinations of 5.0 μg mercury(II) in 100 ml sample was of 2.4%. The method was validated by analyzing the water and soil reference materials and successfully applied to the determination of mercury(II) in locally collected water and dust samples.     

Spectrophotometric determination of mercury in soils with triphenyltetrazolium chloride

The formation of the acidocomplex of mercury(II) with triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride is studied spectrophotometrically in water-organic media. The composition of the complex is established as TTC:Hg:I = 1:1:1. The molar absorptivity (255) = (6.45 +/- 0.12) x 10(4) 1 mole(-1). cm(-1) is determined. The selectivity of the reaction is studied and the method for determination of mercury(II) 0.1-0.8 mug/ml is shown. Extraction investigations of the system discussed were carried out. The characteristic values for the extraction equilibrium and the equilibrium in the aqueous phase was determined: extraction constant K(ex) = 3.16 x 10(4), distribution constant K(D) = 20.67, and association constant = 1.53 x 10(3). 5 A rapid and sensitive extractive-photometric method for determination of mercury(II) in soil was developed. The determination was carried out without preliminary elimination of mercury.     

Determination of total and methyl mercury in human permanent healthy teeth by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after extraction in organic phase

A simple and sensitive method has been developed for determination of inorganic and methyl mercury in biological samples by ETAAS. For determination of methyl mercury; it was transferred to toluene phase by acid leaching extraction method. For total mercury after digestion of samples; it was extracted to toluene phase by means of the chelating agent diethyldithiocarbamate. Formation of complex between MeHg and diethyldithiocarbamate enhance the MeHg signal and increases the reproducibility. Furthermore, Pd-DDC was used as modifier for both mercury and methyl mercury determinations. The optimization performance was independently carried out by modifying the parameters such as temperature of mineralization, atomization and gas flow rate for methylmercury and inorganic mercury in ETAAS. The limits of detection were 0.15 and 0.12 μg g⁻¹ for methyl mercury and total mercury, respectively. The repeatability of the measurements of whole procedure were 15.8% for methyl mercury and 16.9% for total mercury determination. The accuracy of the method has been investigated by means of spiking different amounts of methylmercury and inorganic mercury to the samples. The recoveries were found within the range of 88-95% for methyl mercury and 85-92% for total mercury. For determination of total mercury, the method was validated by CVAAS. The obtained results by the present procedure were in good agreement with those of the CVAAS. The proposed method was applied for 30 human permanent healthy teeth (without filling) which significant positive correlations were found among number of amalgam filling and total mercury and MeHg.     

电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定土壤中镉和总汞

建立电感耦合等离子质谱法测定土壤中镉和总汞的方法。土壤样品在电热板上用盐酸和硝酸于100℃低温消解,重量法定容,取上清液上机测定。镉和总汞含量分别在0.502~10.20 ng/g,0.212~5.010 ng/g范围内线性良好,相关系数(r2)大于0.999,土壤中镉和总汞的检出限分别为0.021,0.002μg/g,测定结果的相对标准偏差分别为1.99%,5.57%(n=6),加标回收率分别为97.5%~101.1%,87.5%~92.9%。该方法样品处理简单快捷,检出限低,准确度和精密度高,适合土壤中镉和总汞含量的测定。     

Spectrophotometric determination of mercury in environmental sample and fungicides based on its complex with o-carboxy phenyl diazoamino p-azobenzene

In the present method a new reagent o-carboxyphenyl diazoamino p-azobenzene has been synthesised for the determination of mercury spectrophotometrically. The method is based on the reaction of mercury with the reagent in alkaline medium where the reagent is in the aci-form. The purple violet coloured dye-mercury complex showed an absorption maxima at 540 nm. Beer's law is valid over the concentration range of mercury from 0.08 to 0.8 mug ml(-1) (0.08-0.8 ppm). The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 2.22x10(5) mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0009 mug cm(-2), respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of mercury in air, water, soil and fungicide samples.     

Simultaneous determination of arsenic, selenium, tin and mercury by non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A procedure is described for simultaneous determination of arsenic, selenium, tin and mercury in aqueous solution by non-dispersive atomic-fluorescence spectrometry. Radiofrequency-excited EDLs, 100% modulated in the kHz region, were used for atom excitation. Sodium tetrahydroborate was used as reductant and a hydrogen-argon miniflame as atomizer. In the optimized procedure, which uses 1 ml of sample, the limits of detection (three times the standard deviation of the blank) were 0.04, 0.08, 0.1 and 0.1 ng ml for arsenic, selenium, tin and mercury respectively. The linear dynamic range was greater than three decades for all analytes and the precision was better than 7% (typically 3%) for concentrations 1 ng ml . Results for mutual interference effects are reported. Copper, nickel, lead and cobalt interfered only with selenium (5 ng ml ), when present in at least 200-fold weight ratio to it. Using 5 ml of sample improved the limits of detection for selenium and arsenic (0.01 and 0.02 ng ml respectively), but at the expense of greater interference. Recovery from spiked natural water samples was better than 95% at the ng ml level, except for selenium in sea-water, when the recovery was only 85%. Determination of the four elements, including standard-addition and background measurements, requires about 10 min.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of mercury and palladium with Thio-Michler's Ketone using partial least squares regression and orthogonal signal correction

A simple, novel and sensitive spectrophotometric method was described for simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium. The method is based on the complex formation of mercury and palladium with Thio-Michler's Ketone (TMK) at pH 3.5. All factors affecting on the sensitivity were optimized and the linear dynamic range for determination of mercury and palladium found. The simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium mixtures by using spectrophotometric method is a difficult problem, due to spectral interferences. By multivariate calibration methods such as partial least squares (PLS), it is possible to obtain a model adjusted to the concentration values of the mixtures used in the calibration range. Orthogonal signal correction (OSC) is a preprocessing technique used for removing the information unrelated to the target variables based on constrained principal component analysis. OSC is a suitable preprocessing method for PLS calibration of mixtures without loss of prediction capacity using spectrophotometric method. In this study, the calibration model is based on absorption spectra in the 360-660 nm range for 25 different mixtures of mercury and palladium. Calibration matrices were containing 0.025-1.60 and 0.05-0.50 microg mL(-1) of mercury and palladium, respectively. The RMSEP for mercury and palladium with OSC and without OSC were 0.013, 0.006 and 0.048, 0.030, respectively. This procedure allows the simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium in synthetic and real matrix samples good reliability of the determination.     

Ion-exchanger phase photoacoustic spectrometry for trace analysis of metal ions

Laser-induced photoacoustic spectroscopy has been applied to the determination of chromate, uranyl, and Cr(VI) and Fe(II) ions as coloured complexes that were sorbed on ion-exchanger beads. A simple photoacoustic cell has been constructed; it consisted of a fused silica glass tube and an attached cylindrical piezoelectric transducer. A pulsed laser fight at 532 or 355 nm irradiated the ion-exchanger beads that had been collected in the glass tube of the cell. Since a sample material was effectively concentrated on the ion exchanger, the sensitivity was much higher than that in the corresponding photoacoustic spectrometry in a solution state. The lowest detection limit was 0.21 ng/ml Fe for Fe(II)-DPPS (4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthrolinedisulphonate) complex sorbed on QAE-Sephadex gel. Analytical characteristics of the present method are described.     

Determination of mercury ion by MEKC with on-column derivatisation and LIF detection

A simple and automatic method for the determination of mercury ion by MEKC with on-column derivatisation and LIF detection is described in the present paper. In this method, solutions of a nonfluorescent rhodamine derivative and mercury ion were injected individually and mixed by applying a short voltage. Subsequently, the mercury ions reacted with the nonfluorescent rhodamine derivative to produce strongly fluorescent product. The resulting product was then removed by EOF and micelles towards the detection window and detected by LIF detector. The experimental conditions in terms of the concentration and injection volume ratios between mercury ion and derivatisation reagent, the mixing time and waiting time for the on-column reaction were optimised. The optimal conditions were determined as follows: the concentration and injection volume ratios between mercury ion and derivatisation reagent were 1:20 and 10:1, respectively; the mixing time was 40 s under the applied voltage of 5 kV; the waiting time was proved unnecessary. The detection limit for mercury ion was 5 x 10(-8) M, and the total analysis time was less than 10 min.     

Spectrophotometric and second-derivative spectrophotometric determination of mercury in organomercurials by means of benzyl 2-pyridyl ketone 2-quinolylhydrazone

Mercury(II) reacts with benzyl 2-pyridylketone 2-quinolylhydrazone (BPKQH) in the pH range 9.0-10.4, to form a stable 1:2 (metal:ligand) complex which has a sharp absorption maximum at 475 nm and molar absorptivity 5.01 x 10(4) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1). It is proposed for use in spectrophotometric determination of mercury at microg/ml levels and analysis for organomercurials. The sensitivity of the method can be increased significantly by employing derivative spectrophotometry, making mercury determination at ng ml levels feasible.     

Atomic fluorescence spectrometry of mercury: principles and developments

Atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) of mercury is very sensitive and the AFS system is an excellent detector for mercury analysis. The first part of this review covers the principles of determination of mercury by AFS. The second part delineates the loss and increase of mercury through its transfer between the gas and solution phases. The third part addresses some possible interferences in the determination of mercury by AFS. The fourth part describes preconcentration techniques for mercury species. In the fifth part, methods for total and selective determination of mercury are described. In the sixth part, various types of automated and semi-automated procedures for the determination of mercury are summarized. Finally, representative biological and environmental certified reference materials (CRMs) for mercury analysis are presented and the availability of CRMs in checking the accuracy and precision of the methodologies is briefly described.