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Speciation Analysis of Trace Mercury in Sea Cucumber Species of Apostichopus japonicus Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Conjunction With Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

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Abstract

In this paper, a simple and cost-effective method using high-performance liquid chromatography in conjunction with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with a rapid ultrasound-assisted extraction was used for analysis speciation of trace mercury in sea cucumber species of Apostichopus japonicus. The effective separation of inorganic mercury, methylmercury, and ethylmercury was achieved within 10 min using Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18 analytical and guard columns with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 8% methanol and 92% H2O containing 0.12% L-cysteine (m/v) and 0.01 mol/L ammonium acetate. Mercury species were extracted from A. japonicus samples using a solution containing 2-mercaptoethanol, L-cysteine, and hydrochloric acid and sonicating for 0.5 h. The limits of detection of inorganic mercury, methylmercury, and ethylmercury were 0.12, 0.08, and 0.20 μg/L, and the minimum detectable concentrations (measured at 0.500 g sample volume in 10.00 mL) were 2.4, 1.6, and 4.0 μg/kg, respectively. Analysis of a scallop certified reference material (GBW 10024) revealed accordance between the experimental and certified values. This study provides a reference for the evaluation of mercury speciation in sea cucumber and other seafood.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this work from the PUMC Youth Fund and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3332015143), Special Research Grant for Nonprofit Public Service (201507004-4), and CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2016-I2M-3-010, 2017-I2M-1-013) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China

    Hao Liu, Tong Ding & Shihai Yang

  2. Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China

    Hao Liu, Jiaoyang Luo, Tong Ding & Meihua Yang

  3. College of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150040, China

    Shanyong Gu

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  1. Hao Liu
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Correspondence to Shihai Yang or Meihua Yang.

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Liu, H., Luo, J., Ding, T. et al. Speciation Analysis of Trace Mercury in Sea Cucumber Species of Apostichopus japonicus Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Conjunction With Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Biol Trace Elem Res 186, 554–561 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1309-y

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