Optimization of Microwave Digestion for Mercury Determination in Marine Biological Samples by Cold Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract

Optimization of acid digestion method for mercury determination in marine biological samples (dolphin liver, fish and mussel tissues) using a closed vessel microwave sample preparation is presented. Five digestion procedures with different acid mixtures were investigated: the best results were obtained when the microwave-assisted digestion was based on sample dissolution with HNO3-H2SO4-K2Cr2O7 mixture. A comparison between microwave digestion and conventional reflux digestion shows there are considerable losses of mercury in the open digestion system. The microwave digestion method has been tested satisfactorily using two certified reference materials. Analytical results show a good agreement with certified values. The microwave digestion proved to be a reliable and rapid method for decomposition of biological samples in mercury determination.

Effect of feeding selectivity on the transfer of methylmercury through experimental marine food chains

“…Referring to previous works (Cardellicchio et al, 2006;Wu et al, 2012), sample digestion was conducted at a microwave digestion system (Sineo Microwave Chemistry Technology Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China). According to the instruction of instrument, the collected sample was added to Teflon vessels containing 2 mL HNO 3 and 2 mL H 2 O 2 .…”

Atomic spectrometry update. Advances in atomic emission, absorption and fluorescence spectrometry, and related techniques

“…The compound is almost never encountered as an analyte in biological or environmental samples. Cardellicchio et al 178 optimized the conditions for microwave digestion of marine biological samples for AA analysis. They found the best results for dissolution with a HNO 3 -H 2 SO 4 -K 2 Cr 2 O 7 mixture and confirmed that there are considerable losses from open digestion systems.…”

Simple Acid Digestion Procedure for the Determination of Total Mercury in Plankton by Cold Vapor Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy

“…Depending on the type of the biological matrix, optimization of the sample digestion should be performed [22,23]. The main parameters usually optimized for the decomposition of biological matrices for mercury analysis are the type of digestion reagent, time of digestion, and temperature [7,[12][13][14]17,24]. However, other factors, such as purity of reagents and use of trace metal clean material protocols, are very important, especially when working with metals such as mercury since the possibility of contamination increases greatly [25].…”