Methylmercury Determination in Fish by Direct Mercury Analyzer. (29th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Tae-Hun; Cho, Min-Ja; Lee, Yongmin; Kim, Ji Hui; Hwang, Jeong-Yun; Lee, Hye-Eun; Kim, Sheen-Hee; Choi, Jang-Duck; Kang, Gil-Jin
• Is Part Of: Journal of AOAC International. Volume 103:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 244
• Page End: 249
• Publication Date: 2020-01-29
• Subjects: Agricultural chemistry -- Periodicals; Food -- Analysis -- Periodicals; 543
• DOI: 10.5740/jaoacint.18-0254
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1060-3271

Abstract

Abstract: Background: There are two methods for quantifying methylmercury (MeHg) in fish using GC–electron capture detection (ECD): AOAC INTERNATIONAL Official Method 988.11 and the Korean Food Code (KFC) method. Both of these methods consume a large amount of chemicals and require long pretreatment times because of several complicated MeHg extraction steps. Objective: In this study, a new method for the simple and rapid determination of MeHg in fish has been developed. The method is based on the investigation of oxygen combustion–gold amalgamation using a direct mercury analyzer (DMA) after the complete removal of MeHg by organic extraction and back-extraction to an aqueous medium. Methods: The DMA is suitable for the analysis of both solid and liquid materials and has a good detection limit. The developed method was validated by comparing the MeHg recoveries (%) of both certified reference materials and the market-purchased fish samples with the MeHg concentration obtained using the KFC method. Results: The following parameters pertaining to the developed method were established: detection limit, 1.02 μg/kg; LOQ, 3.09 μg/kg; linearity ( r ), 0.9998; range, 0.1–300 μg/kg; and recovery, 95–97%. Conclusions: Our method is a promising alternative by virtue of its much simpler and faster sample pretreatment procedure, with a MeHg recovery as high as that of the KFC method. Highlights: The developed method enables the simultaneous analysis of total Hg and MeHg with only DMA equipment.