Rapid, Sensitive Method for Determination of Mercury in a Variety of Biological Samples

Abstract

Abstract A simple, rapid method for the routine determination of mercury at levels as low as 2 ng (2 ppb) in a wide variety of biological samples is described. Vanadium pentoxide-catalyzed wet digestion at 140°C is used for complete oxidation of organic tissue. Mercury is determined by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, utilizing a syringe technique to transfer mercury-containing vapor to the absorption cell. Replicate analyses of samples on different days showed good precision and accuracy. Coefficients of variation for determinations within a day’s run ranged from 2 to 17% at mercury concentrations of 30 to 40 ppb. Results obtained by this method agreed very closely with those obtained by neutron activation analyses of the same samples. On a routine basis, 2 analysts can analyze 30–40 samples/day.