Direct determination of mercury at picomole L−1 levels in bottled water by isotope dilution cold-vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Jacqueline L. Mann; Stephen E. Long; W. Robert Kelly

doi:10.1039/B306640A

Direct determination of mercury at picomole L⁻¹ levels in bottled water by isotope dilution cold-vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Jacqueline L. Mann,*^ab Stephen E. Long^a and W. Robert Kelly^a

* Corresponding authors

^a Analytical Chemistry Division, Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8391, Building 227, Gaithersburg, USA
E-mail: jlmann@geol.umd.edu
Fax: 301-869-0413
Tel: 301-975-4472

^b Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

Abstract

The mercury concentration in 17 commercially available bottled waters (artesian, distilled, carbonated, and spring) from 7 different countries determined by isotope dilution cold-vapor inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-CV-ICP-MS) ranged from the blank limited detection limit of <0.10 ng L⁻¹ to 2.32 ng L⁻¹ (ppt). Highly enriched ²⁰¹Hg isotopic spike is added to approximately 20 mL water and thoroughly mixed. The Hg⁺² in the sample is reduced on line with tin(II) chloride and the elemental Hg vapor is separated in a “liquid-matrix” separator and introduced directly into a quadrupole ICP-MS where the Hg isotope ratios (²⁰¹Hg/²⁰²Hg) are measured in time-resolved analysis mode. The primary advantages of this method are (1) high sensitivity, the instrument detection limit is less than 0.05 ng L⁻¹, (3σ), (2) very low chemical blank, the average blank (n = 3) is 0.17 ng L⁻¹ ± 0.03 ng L⁻¹, and (3) high accuracy of isotope dilution—the accuracy is limited by blank and counting statistics. All waters tested, including the major sellers in Europe and the United States, were approximately 1000 times lower than both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limit of 2 µg L⁻¹ Hg (ppb) and the international World Health Organization (WHO) limit of 1 µg L⁻¹ Hg.

Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/B306640A

Article type

Technical Note

Submitted

11 Jun 2003

Accepted

04 Jul 2003

First published

24 Jul 2003

Download Citation

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2003,18, 1293-1296

Permissions

Request permissions

Direct determination of mercury at picomole L⁻¹ levels in bottled water by isotope dilution cold-vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

J. L. Mann, S. E. Long and W. R. Kelly, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2003, 18, 1293 DOI: 10.1039/B306640A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

Direct determination of mercury at picomole L⁻¹ levels in bottled water by isotope dilution cold-vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Article information

Download Citation

Permissions

Direct determination of mercury at picomole L⁻¹ levels in bottled water by isotope dilution cold-vapor generation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Social activity

Search articles by author

Spotlight

Advertisements