Open AccessFast and accurate methodology for direct mercury determination in hair and nails
Author(s) -
Andrés De L'obra Literària De Vicent,
M. Luisa Cervera,
Ángel MoralesRubio
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
sample preparation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2299-677X
DOI - 10.1515/sampre-2015-0006
Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , certified reference materials , chemistry , fly ash , shampoo , hair care , environmental chemistry , solvent , coal , chromatography , environmental science , computer science , detection limit , biochemistry , organic chemistry , programming language , polymer science
A solvent-free, easy, fast and waste-free methodology was developed for the determination of total mercury levels in hair and nails. Samples were taken from several volunteers and directly analysed, with levels of mercury in the range between 0.5 and 8 ng/mg. The influence of quantity of hair, as well as the addition of small amount of solvent and the necessity of previous treatment were studied. Also, a history of mercury exposure was provided by the distance of the hair from the scalp of each volunteer, the results of which were correlated with fish consumption. Furthermore, a short study of mercury in nails was carried out and correlated to the results from hair mercury levels. A small quantity of 5 mg of hair with an addition of 50 μL of water to the sample without previous treatment was adequate to get a representative result in less than 10 minutes. The accuracy of the proposed method was confirmed by analysing certified reference materials including Coal Fly Ash-NIST SRM 1633b, Fucus-IAEA 140 and three unpolished Rice Flour NIES-10. The observed results were found to be in good agreement with the certified values