Determination of mercury species in foodstuffs using LC-ICP-MS: the applicability and limitations of the method

Richard Koplík, Iva Klimešová, Kateřina Mališová and Oto Mestek
Additional contact information
Richard Koplík: Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, and
Iva Klimešová: Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, and
Kateřina Mališová: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Oto Mestek: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech Journal of Food Sciences, 2014, vol. 32, issue 3, 249-259

Abstract: Reversed-phase liquid chromatography hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS) was used for mercury speciation analysis in food samples. A short chromatographic column (Purospher® RP-8e, 75 ´ 4 mm, 3 µm) and a mobile phase containing 0.02 mol/l CH3COONH4 + 0.2% (v/v) 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) + 1% (v/v) CH3OH were applied. A repeated extraction of samples with hydrochloric acid/2-ME solution (1 mol/l HCl + 0.2% (v/v) 2-ME) was applied as the isolation step. The results were satisfactory for most food matrices (fish, shellfish, plant materials). Conversely, to analyse high-protein animal matrices, which contain mostly the inorganic form of mercury, a procedure including partial hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid should be used. For methylmercury and inorganic divalent mercury, the LOQ values of 0.3 and 2 ng/g, respectively, can be achieved if precautionary measures against contamination are fulfilled. The method was applied for the determination of methylmercury and inorganic divalent mercury in fish, vegetables, herbs and cereal products.

Keywords: mercury speciation; liquid chromatography; inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://cjfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/577/2013-CJFS.html (text/html)
http://cjfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/577/2013-CJFS.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlcjf:v:32:y:2014:i:3:id:577-2013-cjfs

DOI: 10.17221/577/2013-CJFS

Access Statistics for this article

Czech Journal of Food Sciences is currently edited by Ing. Zdeňka Náglová Ph.D.

More articles in Czech Journal of Food Sciences from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().