Distillation of methylmercury using a microdistillation technique

A microdistillation technique has been developed to isolate methylmercury f rom various environmental sample matrices. The new design eliminates methyl mercury contamination from the distillation equipment. It does not require the use of a stripping gas and is less tedious and time-consuming than prev iously used techniques. Because of miniaturization the unit is particularly useful when the sample size is limited. Certified reference materials were analyzed applying speciated isotope dilution ICP-MS. No statistical differ ences between certified and measured values were detected. Distillation tim e and temperature as well as the type of collecting solution were optimized . As little as 10 pg of methylmercury was successfully distilled from water samples. The method was further used to isolate methylmercury from insect larvae weighing less than 2 mg (dry weight).