Two open wet oxidation methods are described for the digestion of selected seafoods prior to total mercury determination using a cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique. The first employs two acids (i.e. HNO3 and H2SO4) and two oxidants (i.e. KMnO4 and K2S2O8), and is suitable for use with a Perkin-Elmer Mercury Analysis System (MAS) and a Perkin-Elmer Mercury Analyzer 50A (MA). Excellent recoveries were obtained for mussel samples spiked with various quantities of inorganic mercury [Hg(N03)2]. For the optimum part of the calibration curve of the MAS (0.1–0.7 μg/ml Hg), the percentage recovery (%R) fluctuated between 98.26 and 101.98. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 18.7 ng of mercury per sample analysed and sensitivity of 0.011 μg of mercury was obtained. Results for fish samples determined with both units showed excellent agreement and precision (RSD = 3.23 -4.25). However, the MA was found inadequate for the determination of the low mercury levels encountered with the mussel samples. It was shown that a desiccant assembly must be installed whenever samples with low mercury content are analysed, i.e. less than 0.5 μg per sample digested.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:283184 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Evmorfopoulos, Evangelos |
| Publisher | Loughborough University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/27859 |
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