Low-Temperature Digestion Method for Fish Tissue and Sediment Prior to Total Mercury Analysis

Abstract A fast semimicro method for the determination of methyl mercury in fish tissue is described. The procedure involves extracting the methyl mercury into toluene as methyl mercuric bromide, partitioning the bromide into aqueous ethanol as a thiosulfate complex, and re-extracting into benzene as methyl mercuric iodide. Methyl mercury is quantitated with gas chromatography. The method is sensitive to 0.01 ppm. Recoveries of added methyl mercury were 99% and the presence of methyl mercury in the final extract was shown by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography of the thin layer spot. A variety of mercurial compounds do not interfere in the analyses. The amounts of both methyl and total mercury found in a variety of tissues of aquatic animals are compared. The presence of a demethylase in seal is suggested by the findings of high levels of nonmethyl mercury. Additional cleanup by column chromatography on Florisil was necessary with certain samples. The gas chromatographic columns were kept operational by the intermittent injection of 3M potassium iodide. Due to column bleed and resulting detector contamination, the use of the easily cleaned concentric tube electron capture detector is recommended.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of an interlaboratory proficiency-testing exercise for total mercury in environmental samples of soils, sediments and fish tissue

TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry ◽

10.1016/j.trac.2008.09.001 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 27 (10) ◽

pp. 959-970 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

E. Pereira ◽

S.M. Rodrigues ◽

M. Otero ◽

M. Válega ◽

C.B. Lopes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Proficiency Testing ◽

Environmental Samples ◽

Total Mercury ◽

Fish Tissue

Download Full-text

Total mercury analysis in petroleum products

Journal de Physique IV (Proceedings) ◽

10.1051/jp4:20030583 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 107 ◽

pp. 1447-1447

Author(s):

D. Babi ◽

F. Schaedlich ◽

D. Schneeberger

Keyword(s):

Total Mercury ◽

Petroleum Products ◽

Mercury Analysis

Download Full-text

Comparative Screening Analytic Methods for Elderly of Blood Methylmercury Concentration between Two Analytical Institutions

Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine ◽

10.1155/2018/2509413 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Byoung-Gwon Kim ◽

Young-Seoub Hong ◽

Koichi Haraguchi ◽

Mineshi Sakomoto ◽

Hyoun-Ju Lim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Total Mercury ◽

Toxic Substance ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Atomic Fluorescence ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Mercury Analysis ◽

Human Blood Samples ◽

Highly Correlated ◽

Analytical Laboratories ◽

Sensitive Method

Methylmercury is widely known to be a toxic substance in the human, especially a nervous system. However, it is difficult to accurately measure the amount of methylmercury in blood, and the form of methylmercury is variously presented. The purpose of study was to compare the total mercury and methylmercury measurements techniques and detection levels between analytical institutions in two countries using the same elderly human blood samples. Total mercury using gold amalgamation direct mercury analysis method (both) and methylmercury using the dithizone extraction and gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD) method (N Lab in Japan) and the cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer (CVAFS) method (D Lab in Korea) were measured in 47 subjects who agreed to participate in this study. Total mercury concentrations in both analytical laboratories were observed at similar levels (9.4 versus 9.5 ug/kg, p=0.898) and the distribution was highly correlated. However, the concentration of methylmercury showed some difference between two laboratories (9.1 versus 8.6 ug/kg, p<0.001). Due to different recovery rates by different analytical methods, it is assumed that the methyl/total mercury ratio in N lab in Japan was higher than D lab in Korea (96.8 versus 90.4%, p<0.001). The GC-ECD was more sensitive method than CVAFS in methylmercury analytic techniques.

Download Full-text

A Review of the Status of Total Mercury Analysis (W. Dickinson Burrows)

Heavy Metals in the Aquatic Environment ◽

10.1016/b978-0-08-018068-7.50014-9 ◽

1975 ◽

pp. 63-72

Author(s):

JAMES H. FINGER ◽

TOM B. BENNETT

Keyword(s):

Total Mercury ◽

Mercury Analysis ◽

The Status

Download Full-text

Choline Chloride–Oxalic Acid as a Deep Eutectic Solvent–Based Innovative Digestion Method for the Determination of Selenium and Arsenic in Fish Samples

Journal of AOAC International ◽

10.5740/jaoacint.17-0286 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 101 (4) ◽

pp. 1183-1189 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Abdul Haleem Panhwar ◽

Mustafa Tuzen ◽

Tasneem Gul Kazi

Keyword(s):

Oxalic Acid ◽

Choline Chloride ◽

Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry ◽

Deep Eutectic Solvent ◽

Absorption Spectrometry ◽

Fish Tissue ◽

Molar Ratio ◽

Digestion Method ◽

Fish Samples

Abstract An innovative and effective digestion method based on choline chloride (ChCl)–oxalic acid (Ox) deep eutectic solvent (DES) was proposed for the determination of Se and As in fish samples via electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The impacts of different variables, including the composition and volume of ChCl–Ox, temperature, and acid addition, on analyte recovery were studied for optimization. In this procedure, an 80 mg sample was dissolved in a 1:2 molar ratio of ChCl–Ox at 105°C for 40 min, with the subsequent addition of 4.0 mL HNO3 (1.0 M) and further heating at the same temperature for about 5 min. Next, centrifugation was applied, and the supernatant solution was filtered, diluted to a known volume, and measured by ETAAS. The accuracy of the developed method was tested using a Standard Reference Material (NIST SRM 1946 Lake Superior Fish Tissue). The proposed DES-based digestion method was successfully applied to the simultaneous extraction of Se and As from fish samples.

Download Full-text