Minimising the risk of some systematic errors by the use of the single vessel principle for cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometric determination of mercury in biological solids

The suitability of the single vessel principle (performing all steps of an analytical procedure in one vessel) for cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometric determination of mercury in biological solids was evaluated. The single vessel method gave a lower mean blank level with better precision, hence lower detection limits, as compared to the conventional method. The determination of total mercury in biological standard reference materials by the single vessel method also produced significantly higher mercury values and better precision than the conventional method. However, the mercury concentrations obtained in certified reference materials by the use of both methods were close to the mean certified values. Moreover, the use of the single vessel method is cost effective, rapid and environment friendly. The use of the single vessel technique is therefore recommended for accurate and reliable determination of mercury in biological solids. Received: 15 December 1997 / Revised: 9 April 1998 / Accepted: 18 April 1998