Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Metals Using Bis(2,4,4-trimethyl-pentyl)monothiophosphinic Acid as Chelating Agent for Subsequent ICP-MS Analyses of Mercury, Cadmium and Lead in Sediment

This study investigated and validated the optimum conditions for a supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method using bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)monothiophosphinic acid as a chelating ligand, for subsequent ICP-MS analyses of mercury, cadmium and lead in sediment. Several combinations of pressure, temperature and modifier (P-T-M) conditions for SFE were tested and an appropriate collection solvent was also determined using a sediment certified reference material (CRM) as sample, to determine the optimum set of conditions. Validation results of the optimized method indicated high percent recoveries which are better compared to standard methods.