title: A new method for preconcentration and determination of mercury in fish, shellfish and saliva by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry.
abstract: The development of a method using solid phase extraction for preconcentration and determination of mercury by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry is described. Hg (II) ions are sorbed on a minicolumn packed with Amberlite XAD-4 sorbent functionalised with 2-(2'-benzothiazolylazo)-p-cresol (BTAC). Then, a reducing solution was used for desorption and the transport of the analyte for subsequent detection. The assay presented a limit of detection of 0.011 μg L⁻¹ (0.011 μg g⁻¹, for solid samples), a limit of quantification of 0.038 μg L⁻¹ (0.038 μg g⁻¹, for solid samples), a precision of 0.50% (1.000 μg L⁻¹ Hg solution) and an enrichment factor of 46. The proposed method was applied to the determination of mercury in human saliva (0.055-0.200 μg L⁻¹). The following seafood collected in Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil was also analysed: bass (0.169-0.195 μg g⁻¹), mullet (0.043-0.361 μg g⁻¹), shrimp (0.075-0.374 μg g⁻¹) and mussel (0.206-0.397 μg g⁻¹).
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Laboratório de Química Analítica (LQA), Campus de Jequié, Jequié, BA 45206-510, Brazil. Electronic address: vlemos@uesb.edu.br.
authors.forename: Valfredo Azevedo
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.forename: Liz Oliveira
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: dos Santos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D005399:Fishes; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D017747:Seafood / Q000032:analysis*; D012758:Shellfish / Q000032:analysis*; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury
keywords: Cold vapour; Functionalised resin; Mercury; Preconcentration; Saliva; Seafood