SLURRY SAMPLING IN SERUM BLOOD FOR MERCURY DETERMINATION BY CV-AFS

PEDRO R. ARANDA; RAÚL A. GIL; SUSANA MOYANO; IRMA E. DE VITO; LUIS D. MARTINEZ

JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.

Año: 2008

0304-3894

The heavy metal mercury (Hg) is a neurotoxin known to have a serious health impact even at relatively low concentrations. A slurry  method was developed for the sensitive and precise determination of mercury in human serum blood samples by cold vapor generation coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). All variables related to the slurry formation were studied. The optimal hydrochloric concentration  and tin(II) chloride concentration for CV generation were evaluated. Calibration within the range 0.1-10 µg L-1 Hg was performed with the standard addition method, and compared with an external calibration. Additionally, the reliability of the results obtained was evaluated by analyzing mercury in the same samples, but submitted to microwave-assisted digestion method. The limit of detection was calculated as 25 ng L-1 and the relative standard deviation was 3.9 % at levels around of 0.4 µg L-1 Hg.     Keywords: Slurry sampling; Human serum blood; Mercury; Atomic fluorescence spectrometry