Determination of mercury by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry withpreconcentration on a gold-trap

The determination of trace levels of mercury by flow injection cold-vapor a tomic absorption spectrometry with gold amalgamation was evaluated for orga nic and inorganic mercury species. The effect of the sodium tetrahydroborat e(III) and hydrochloric acid concentrations as well as various instrumental parameters on the analytical performance was studied. The influence of the blank as well as the laboratory procedure for reagent purification was eva luated. The procedure was applied to the determination of mercury in lake w ater, while focusing on the importance of the sampling protocols.