Comparative study of atomic fluorescence spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for mercury and arsenic multispeciation

Anal Bioanal Chem. 2005 May;382(2):485-92. doi: 10.1007/s00216-005-3094-7. Epub 2005 Mar 22.

Abstract

Mercury and arsenic are two elements of undoubted importance owing to their toxic character. Although speciation of these elements has been developed separately, in this work for the first time the speciation of As and Hg using two atomic fluorescence detectors in a sequential ensemble is presented. A coupling based on the combination of high-performance liquid chromatography (where mercury and arsenic species are separated) and two atomic fluorescence detectors in series, with several online treatments, including photooxidation (UV) and hydride generation, has allowed the determination of mercury and arsenic compounds simultaneously. The detection limits for this device were 16, 3, 17, 12 and 8 ng mL(-1) for As(III), monomethylarsinic acid, As(V), Hg2+ and methylmercury, respectively. This coupling was compared with an analogous one based on inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection, with detection limits of 0.7, 0.5, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.1 ng mL(-1), respectively. Multispeciation based on ICP-MS exhibits better sensitivity than the coupling based on tandem atomic fluorescence, but this second device is a very robust system and exhibits obvious advantages related to the low cost of acquisition and maintenance, as well as easy handling, which makes it a suitable system for routine laboratories.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arsenic / analysis*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Mercury / analysis*
  • Reference Standards
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence / methods*
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet

Substances

  • Mercury
  • Arsenic