[Determination of methylmercury in biological and sediment samples by capillary gas chromatography on-line coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry].

A comprehensive method for the determination of methylmercury by capillary gas chromatography (GC) on-line coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) was developed. The hyphenation system was carefully designed and the operation conditions such as injector temperature, carrier gas flow rate, make-up gas flow rate and argon flow rate were optimized in detail. The absolute detection limits (3sigma) were 0.005 ng of Hg for both methylmercury (MMC) and ethylmercury (EMC). The relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 5) for MMC and EMC at 10 ng x mL(-1) of Hg levels were 2.5% and 1.3%, respectively. The method was evaluated by analyzing a certified reference material (DORM-2), and the MMC concentration determined was in good agreement with the certified value. In addition, the recoveries of MMC in two sediment samples were 70% and 77%, respectively. The proposed method was accurate, sensitive and suitable for the determination of MMC in biological and sediment samples.