Determination of mercury in biological tissues by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with an in-situ concentration technique.

A method has been described for the determination of total mercury by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) using an in-situ concentration technique with a Pd-Zr coating and a chemical modifier. The characteristic mass, which gives an integrated absorbance of 0.0044 s, was found to be 42 pg and an absolute detection limit (3sigma) of 33 pg was obtained with the proposed modifier. The total mercury values in standard reference materials, including Mussel (GBW08571), Bovine liver (GBW08306), Peach leaf (GBW08501) and Tea leaf (GBW080001), were determined using the proposed method, and the results were consistent with reference values. The method had been successfully applied to the determination of mercury in biological tissue samples with a recovery range of 94-105%.