Rapid determination of total mercury contents in aquo-system sediment by microwave digestion and hydride generation-cold atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A method of rapid determination of total mercury was developed. The single factor was taken to study the effect of instrument conditions,hydrochloric acid concentration,and KBH4 concentration on the fluorescence intensity. Under the optimized experimental conditions,the linear regression equation was IF= 516. 362 c +11. 982 for Hg. The linear range,the correlation coefficient,and the detection limit of Hg was 0. 004-1. 6 ng / m L,0. 9998,and 0. 004 ng / m L respectively. This method was verified by analyzing the standard material of aquo-system sediment and the found value( 0. 10 ± 0. 01 μg / g) was in good agreement with the certified value( 0. 10 ± 0. 02 μg / g). The relative standard deviation for 11 replicate analyses was 5% with the recovery of 100%-110%( mean = 105%) for determination of Hg in aquo-system sediment through the use of standard material( GBW07305). The proposed method was successfully used for the determination of Hg in aquo-system sediment and exhibited the advantages of simple operation,rapid determination,low cost,and high efficiency.