Determination of Hg isotopic compositions in certified reference material NIES No. 13 Human Hair by cold vapor generation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Hg isotopic ratios of NIES CRM No. 13 Human Hair were analyzed using cold vapor generation coupled to multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer to meet the growing demand for better understanding of Hg exposure routes by using Hg isotopic compositions in human hair samples. To validate and assure the accuracy of our analytical method, (1) the reproducibility of the Hg isotopic measurement was monitored and (2) the Hg isotopic compositions of four secondary reference materials—IAEA-085, IAEA-086, and CRPG-RL24H—were measured. Our results for NIES CRM No. 13 show the mass-dependent fractionation values of δ 199Hg = (2.13 ± 0.07) ‰, δ 200Hg = (0.98 ± 0.08) ‰, δ 201Hg = (2.77 ± 0.10) ‰, δ 202Hg = (1.89 ± 0.10) ‰, and δ 204Hg = (2.76 ± 0.16) ‰ (2SD, n = 11) and the mass-independent fractionation values of Δ 199Hg = (1.65 ± 0.06) ‰, Δ 200Hg = (0.04 ± 0.04) ‰, Δ 201Hg = (1.36 ± 0.07) ‰, and Δ 204Hg = (−0.04 ± 0.11) ‰ (2SD, n = 11). Interlaboratory comparison of the CRM performed at the University of Pau showed good agreement with the values obtained at NIES.