23rd Annual Student Research Conference
Atomic Absorption Determination of Mercury in Local Freshwater Fish Using a Home-Built Cold Vapor Generator
James E. Brown
Dr. David McCurdy and Dr. Brian D. Lamp, Faculty Mentors
Past efforts in our laboratory have focused on the design, construction and characterization of a cold vapor generator for the determination of mercury (Hg) by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CVAAS). The result of this effort was sample introduction technique that gave excellent calibration behavior, a limit of detection of 0.1 ng/mL, and relative precision in the range of 5-8% RSD using aqueous standard solutions of mercury. As part of a Merck-AAAS sponsored research program at Truman, our work last summer emphasized the development and validation of a method for the quantitative determination of Hg in freshwater fish using our CVAAS technique. Our approach for this determination used microwave sample decomposition of fish tissue, followed by CVAAS determination using aqueous standard calibration. This presentation will describe the method development and validation process undertaken and present the results obtained in the analysis of Hg in largemouth bass from Forest Lake.
Keywords: Mercury, Water Quality, CVAAS, Fish, Merck
Topic(s):Chemistry
Environmental Studies
Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 52-1
Location: MG 1098
Time: 2:45