title: One-step displacement dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry for the selective determination of methylmercury in environmental samples.
abstract: A novel method for the selective determination of methylmercury (MeHg) was developed by one-step displacement dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (D-DLLME) coupled with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. In the proposed method, Cu(II) reacted with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) to form Cu-DDTC complex, which was used as the chelating agent instead of DDTC for the dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) of MeHg. Because the stability of MeHg-DDTC is higher than that of Cu-DDTC, MeHg can displace Cu from the Cu-DDTC complex and be preconcentrated in a single DLLME procedure. MeHg could be extracted into the extraction solvent phase at pH 6 while Hg(II) remained in the sample solution. Potential interference from co-existing metal ions with lower DDTC complex stability was largely eliminated without the need of any masking reagent. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection of this method was 13.6ngL(-1) (as Hg), and an enhancement factor of 81 was achieved with a sample volume of 5.0mL. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of trace MeHg in some environmental samples with satisfactory results.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, PR China.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, PR China.
authors.forename: Caiyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, PR China.
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D004050:Ditiocarb / Q000737:chemistry; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000032:analysis; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry; D059627:Liquid Phase Microextraction; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D060766:Drinking Water; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003300:Copper; D004050:Ditiocarb
keywords: Environmental samples; Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry; Methylmercury; One-step displacement dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction