Abstract
Abstract A fast semimicro method for the determination of methyl mercury in fish tissue is described. The procedure involves extracting the methyl mercury into toluene as methyl mercuric bromide, partitioning the bromide into aqueous ethanol as a thiosulfate complex, and re-extracting into benzene as methyl mercuric iodide. Methyl mercury is quantitated with gas chromatography. The method is sensitive to 0.01 ppm. Recoveries of added methyl mercury were 99% and the presence of methyl mercury in the final extract was shown by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography of the thin layer spot. A variety of mercurial compounds do not interfere in the analyses. The amounts of both methyl and total mercury found in a variety of tissues of aquatic animals are compared. The presence of a demethylase in seal is suggested by the findings of high levels of nonmethyl mercury. Additional cleanup by column chromatography on Florisil was necessary with certain samples. The gas chromatographic columns were kept operational by the intermittent injection of 3M potassium iodide. Due to column bleed and resulting detector contamination, the use of the easily cleaned concentric tube electron capture detector is recommended.
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