Organic and total mercury determination in sediments by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry: methodology validation and uncertainty measurements

The purpose of the present study was to validate a method for organic Hg determination in sediment. The procedure for organic Hg was adapted from literature, where the organomercurial compounds were extracted with dichloromethane in acid medium and subsequent destruction of organic compounds by brom...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Robson L. Franklin, Jose E. Bevilacqua, Deborah I. T. Favaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2012-01-01
Series:Química Nova
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422012000100009&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:The purpose of the present study was to validate a method for organic Hg determination in sediment. The procedure for organic Hg was adapted from literature, where the organomercurial compounds were extracted with dichloromethane in acid medium and subsequent destruction of organic compounds by bromine chloride. Total Hg was performed according to 3051A USEPA methodology. Mercury quantification for both methodologies was then performed by CVAAS. Methodology validation was verified by analyzing certified reference materials for total Hg and methylmercury. The uncertainties for both methodologies were calculated. The quantification limit of 3.3 µg kg-1 was found for organic Hg by CVAAS.
ISSN:1678-7064