ONLINE PRECONCENTRATION AND DETERMINATION OF MERCURY IN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES BY FLOW-INJECTION VAPOR GENERATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

An FI-ICP-AES method for the determination of trace levels of mercury in biological samples has been described, which is based on the extrac tion of the mercury complex with 1,5-bis (di-2-pyridyl)methylene thioc arbonohydrazide (DPTH) on-line into isobuthyl-methyl ketone (IBMK). Th e organic phase (containing the complex) has been mixed on-line with S nCl2 in N,N-dimethylformamide. Thus, mercury vapour can be generated d irectly from the organic phase and separated in a gas-liquid separatio n device. The detection limit for mercury is 4 ng/ml and the calibrati on curve is linear at least from 10 to 2500 ng/ml. The relative standa rd deviation for 10 replicate measurements is +/- 1% for 100 ng/ml of Hg(II). Re suits from the analysis of some certified biological refere nce materials are given.