Analysis of mercury in sportfish tissue by thermal decomposition, amalgamation/atomic absorption spectrophotometry

J Food Prot. 2005 Apr;68(4):879-81. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-68.4.879.

Abstract

Sportfish samples (n = 133) that originated from Indiana waters were analyzed for total mercury using inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) and thermal decomposition, amalgamation/atomic absorption spectrophotometry (TDA/ AAS). Total mercury concentrations obtained by the two methods were not significantly different (P > 0.05). The correlation coefficient for total mercury obtained for the two methods was 0.94. The limit of detection using TDA/AAS was 0.1 ppm. TDA/AAS is a preferred technique for the analysis of total mercury in fish tissue because it is rapid (6 min per sample) and easy to use and requires little sample preparation.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Fishes / metabolism*
  • Food Analysis
  • Food Contamination / analysis*
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Mercury / analysis*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrophotometry, Atomic / methods*
  • Tissue Distribution

Substances

  • Mercury