Determination of traces of mercury using radioactive zinc dithizonate as a reagent

A radioreagent method for the analysis of traces of mercury using radioactive zinc dithizonate as the reagent has been developed. As small as 0,2 μg of mercury can be determined using this technique. Possible interferences from most of the metals which displace zinc from zinc dithizonate can be removed by a simple separation procedure. The method was tested by analyzing the NBS reference standard SRM 1064 and our value was found to be in agreement with the value certified by NBS. This paper was presented at the South-East and South-West ACS Regional Meeting, Memphis, Tenn., October 29–31, 1975.