SPECIATION OF MERCURY, PLATINUM AND TIN - FOCUS OF RESEARCH AND FUTURE-DEVELOPMENTS

A discussion about the elements mercury, platinum and tin and their or ganometallic compounds, with special attention to important aspects li ke anthropogenic emissions, use in industry, agriculture and medicine, toxicities, biogeochemical cycles, highlights the necessity of specia tion analysis. Methods frequently used to speciate mercury, platinum a nd tin compounds in different matrices are summarized. Future trends a re indicated in order to give an impression about the importance of me tal speciation and its increasing impact on some key disciplines.