Abstract
Mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) are ubiquitous in the environment and exist in a variety of species, which have great influence on their transport, bioaccumulation and toxicity. This review presents the recent research progress in speciation analysis of Hg, As, and Se, with emphasis on enhanced cold vapor generation as interface for liquid chromatography and atomic spectrometry, speciation of volatile species in gas phase, and isotope dilution technique to improve the precision and accuracy of speciation. Hyphenated techniques to characterize the complexes of Hg and As with phytochelatins and chromatographic separation coupled with multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to measure species-specific isotopic ratios, are also briefly discussed.
Highlights
Mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) are ubiquitous in the environment and exist in a variety of species, which have great influence on their transport, bioaccumulation and toxicity
This review presents the recent advances in speciation analysis of Hg, As, and Se based on chromatographic separation, with emphasis on enhanced cold vapor generation (CVG) as interface for LC and atomic spectrometry, speciation of volatile Hg, As and Se in gas phase, and isotope dilution technique to improve the precision and accuracy of speciation
Hyphenated techniques to characterize the complexes of Hg and As with phytochelatins and chromatographic separation coupled with multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) to measure species-specific isotopic ratios, are briefly introduced
Summary
Yin Y G, et al Chin Sci Bull January (2013) Vol. No.2 has been widely used in speciation of Hg in environmental and biological samples and was reviewed recently [6]. Aqueous ethylation by NaBEt4-purge and trap-GCatomic fluorescence spectroscopy (AFS) or ICP-MS is becoming a routine method for determination of ultra-low MeHg in environmental or biological samples. Sulphide [7], dissolved organic matter (DOM) [7] and chloride [8] present in sample matrix interfere with the ethylation reaction, decreasing the derivatization efficiency [7] or transforming of MeHg into elemental mercury (Hg0) [8]. The advantages of phenylation include: (1) Chloride, DOM and sulphide do not interfere with the derivatization [10]. (3) The lower volatility of the derivatization product of Hg2+, Hg(Ph), minimizes its interference on quantitative determination of MeHg and possible contamination of GC and detector by Hg2+. By using the developed phenylation-purge and trap preconcentration coupled with GC-AFS/ICP-MS [10] and GC-MS [11], the occurrence of EtHg in the Florida Everglades was verified, which confirmed the previous finding of EtHg in soils and sediments of the Florida Everglades [12]
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