DETERMINATION OF ORGANOMERCURY AND MERCURY IN ENVIRONMENTAL-SAMPLES BY FLOW-INJECTION ATOMIC FLUORESCENCE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

Flow injection analysis (FIA) involving the on line oxidation of organ omercury species to Hg2+, followed by reduction to Hg-o with acidified tin(II)chloride has been successfully coupled to an atomic fluorescen ce spectrophotometer (AFS) for determination of total organomercury in environmental samples. The method gave accurate and reproducible resu lts for the certified dogfish samples DORM-1 and DOLT-1. A suitable or ganomercury extraction procedure for use with the method was establish ed. The FIA-AFS method may also be used for determination of total mer cury in environmental samples. The limit of detection (LOD) for organo mercury was 200 pg and 2 pg for inorganic mercury using a 100 mu l inj ection. The system is dedicated, cost-effective, sensitive and simple to use with a throughput of 17 analyses per hour.