DETERMINATION OF MERCURY LEVELS IN HUMAN URINE AND BLOOD BY ULTRAVIOLET-VISIBLE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

A method for the determination of mercury levels in biological samples , i.e., human urine and blood, has been developed using an incomplete cubane-type sulfur-bridged molybdenum aqua complex, Mo3S44+(aq), with analysis by spectrophotometry. The primary advantage of the method is that when the complex is dissolved in sulfuric acid it reacts directly with mercury, produced by the addition of a reducing agent to samples containing mercury(II), giving an intense coloration. Levels of mercu ry in the biological samples can be determined using the 'complex' dis solved in sulfuric acid. The detection limit for mercury(II) in urine and blood was 0.05 ppm at the wavelength of maximum absorption (lambda (max) = 556 nm).