Direct determination and speciation of mercury compounds in environmental and biological samples by carbon bed atomic absorption spectroscopy

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6676977

Skelly, E M

A method was developed for the direct determination of mercury in water and biological samples using a unique carbon bed atomizer for atomic absorption spectroscopy. The method avoided sources of error such as loss of volatile mercury during sample digestion and contamination of samples through added reagents by eliminating sample pretreatment steps. The design of the atomizer allowed use of the 184.9 nm mercury resonance line in the vacuum ultraviolet region, which increased sensitivity over the commonly used spin-forbidden 253.7 nm line. The carbon bed atomizer method was applied to a study of mercury concentrations in water, hair, sweat, urine, blood, breath and saliva samples from a non-occupationally exposed population. Data were collected on the average concentration, the range and distribution of mercury in the samples. Data were also collected illustrating individual variations in mercury concentrations with time. Concentrations of mercury found were significantly higher than values reported in the literature for a ''normal'' population. This is attributed to the increased accuracy gained by eliminating pretreatment steps and increasing atomization efficiency. Absorption traces were obtained for various solutions of pure and complexed mercury compounds. Absorption traces of biological fluids were also obtained. Differences were observed in the absorption-temperatures traces of various compounds. The utility of this technique for studying complexation was demonstrated.

• OSTI ID: 6676977
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400104* -- Spectral Procedures-- (-1987)
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ANIMAL TISSUES
ATOMIZATION
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
BLOOD
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CARBON
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
ELEMENTS
HAIR
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MERCURY
MERCURY COMPOUNDS
METALS
NONMETALS
ORGANS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SALIVA
SKIN
SPECTROSCOPY
SWEAT
TISSUES
TRACE AMOUNTS
URINE
WASTES
WATER