Journal
JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY A
Volume 963, Issue 1-2, Pages 345-351Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9673(02)00140-1
Keywords
cold-vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry; detection, GC; headspace analysis; extraction methods; methylmercury; organomercury compounds; mercury; metals
Ask authors/readers for more resources
An analytical procedure for the determination of methylmercury in human hair after acid digestion using aqueous ethylation, headspace solid-phase microextraction sampling and final gas chromatography-cold-vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry detection is described. Acid digestion, extraction procedure and chromatographic conditions were optimised. An optimal linear range using standard mercury solutions was found and concentration detection limits for the mercury species, MeHg and Hg2+, were about 50 and 80 ng/g, respectively, for 100 mg of human hair. The reproducibility of the developed analytical procedure assessed for hair samples with incurred MeHg was better than 18% (n=5). A certified reference material from the National Institute of Environmental Studies (Japan) was used for validation. Analysis of human hair collected from urban inhabitants was performed and the mean value of methylmercury content in hair samples was 0.764+/-0.732 mug/g for the population tested. The developed analytical method is simple, fast and a suitable procedure for the monitoring and screening of human exposure to methylmercury. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available