Distribution of tin in the northeastern Mediterranean

Abstract

Concentrations of tin, one of the naturally methylated elements, was determined in sea water, sediments and organisms, collected from the Northeastern Mediterranean. A hydride generation technique was employed, in which the tin and methyltin, were converted to their hydrides. The hydrides produced were detected by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. On the average, the inorganic tin content of sea water samples ranged between 1.1–236 ng/1. Although the dominant methyltin species was dimethyltin, all forms of methyltins (mono, di and tri-methyltins) were detected. The sediment samples were analyzed for the acid extractable tin content and the concentrations were found to range between 0.17–2.30 ug/g (dry weight). Methyltin concentration ranged between 0.1–9.7 ng/g (dry weight). The organism (Limpet) samples were analyzed for their total tin and methyltin contents. Total tin ranged between 7.2–564 ng/g (dry weight), and the methyltins ranged between 0.5–13.9 ng/g (dry weight).