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Determination of methylmercury in fish and seafood using optimized digestion and derivatization followed by gas chromatography with atomic emission detection

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Abstract

Mercury is an environmental contaminant that appears in different chemical forms. Organic forms of mercury, such as methylmercury, can occur in marine organisms like fish and shellfish and are far more toxic than the inorganic form. It is therefore vital to have refined analytical methods for the different mercuric species in order to evaluate the potential risk for seafood consumers. The aim of our investigations was to develop a simple, robust and valid method for differentiation of the mercury species in marine organisms. Different alkaline and acidic digestion procedures were evaluated. The best performing methodology consisted of digestion of 0.5 g sample in methanolic potassium hydroxide solution. After derivatization with sodium tetraethylborate and extraction of the ethylated mercury species using n-hexane, a quantitative determination of the extract using gas chromatography, combined with atomic emission detection, was possible. The procedure was shown to be selective and sensitive with a limit of detection of 6.1 μg/kg for methylmercury. The average recovery for the full procedure was 91 ± 19%. A preliminary survey of seafoods confirmed the previous observation that the proportion of methylmercury in the total mercury can vary widely, up to a complete occurrence as methylmercury.

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Acknowledgments

The project was financed by a grant from the ‘Ministerium für Ernährung und Ländlichen Raum Baden-Württemberg’ (Ministry of Nutrition and Rural Affairs of the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg). The skilful technical assistance of H. Havel and H. Mann is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt (CVUA) Karlsruhe, Weißenburger Str. 3, 76187, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Thomas Kuballa, Elena Leonhardt, Kerstin Schoeberl & Dirk W. Lachenmeier

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  1. Thomas Kuballa
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  2. Elena Leonhardt
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  3. Kerstin Schoeberl
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  4. Dirk W. Lachenmeier
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Correspondence to Thomas Kuballa.

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Kuballa, T., Leonhardt, E., Schoeberl, K. et al. Determination of methylmercury in fish and seafood using optimized digestion and derivatization followed by gas chromatography with atomic emission detection. Eur Food Res Technol 228, 425–431 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-008-0949-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-008-0949-0

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