Mercury determination by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry utilizing UV photoreduction

A method for the determination of mercury via UV photoreduction has been investigated. Mercury vapor was generated by the reduction of mercury species in an acetic acid solution using UV radiation. Detection of the volatile mercury was accomplished by atomic absorption spectrometry. An optimized system was found to provide a detection limit (defined as the concentration giving a signal equal to three times the standard deviation of the blank) of 2.1 μg L⁻¹ with a precision of 2.9% relative standard deviation (n = 8) for a 500 μg L⁻¹ mercury standard. The effect of various metal ions on the mercury signal was investigated and the method validated with a NRCC certified dogfish liver material (DOLT-3) using the method of standard additions. A reaction pathway is hypothesized for UV photoreduction.