A highly sensitive spectrophotometric method with solid-phase extraction for the determination of methylmercury in human hair.
Methylmercury is the most toxic among the mercury species. In order to provide a quick method to screen samples for methylmercury, a highly sensitive spectrophotometric method was established. The method was based on formation of the red complex of methylmercury with thio-Michler's ketone, which can be extracted with n-butanol. The organic layer was determined at a maximum absorption wavelength of 564 nm. The Lambert-Beer law was obeyed for methylmercury from 1.00 x 10(-7) mol/L to 2.00 x 10(-5) mol/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992. The detection limit was 3 x 10(-8) mol/L. The method was used to determine methylmercury in human hair. The recovery was from 94% to 102%, and the relative standard deviation was 2.5%. The results agreed with those obtained by gas chromatography with electron capture detection.
Li
H B
HB
Department of Botany, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Chen
F
F
Xu
X R
XR
D001577:Benzophenones / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods*
D001577:Benzophenones; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; C014682:Michler's ketone