Analysis of Mercury-Rich plants and mine tailings using the Hydride-Generation AAS method
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Moreno, Fábio Netto; Anderson, Christopher; Stewart, Robert; Robinson, Brett
- Source
- Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology. August 2009 52(4)
- Subject
- hydride-generation
mercury
plant and mine tailings
sodium borohydride (NaBH4)
phytoextraction
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1516-8913
A hydride-generation atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method was developed for the analysis of total Hg in liquid matrices of mercury-rich plants and mine tailings samples. The detection limit for this method was as low as 11.4 ng/mL. The reproducibility of the mercury signals (in terms of relative standard deviation) was 4.6%. Accuracy of the method was verified by analyses of deionised water samples spiked with HgCl2 and HgNO3. Recovery values for total mercury ranged from 88.5 to 94.3% for both mercury species added. An external certified laboratory validated the analytical method with a maximum discrepancy of 15 %. Optimal analytical response of the equipment for Hg analysis of plant samples was achieved when the sample volume added to the reaction vessel was 0.25 mL.