Single-Drop Solution Electrode Discharge-Induced Cold Vapor Generation Coupling to Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion: A Robust Approach for Sensitive Quantification of Total Mercury Distribution in Fish.

Sensitive quantification of mercury distribution in fish is challenging because of insufficient sensitivities of conventional analytical methods, the limited mass of organs (tens of micrograms to several milligrams), and dilution of analyte concentration from sample digestion. In this work, a simple and robust approach coupling multiwall carbon nanotubes assisted matrix solid-phase dispersion (MWCNTs-MSPD) to single-drop solution electrode glow discharge-induced cold vapor generation (SD-SEGD-CVG) was developed for the sensitive determination of mercury in limited amount of sample. Mercury species contained in a limited amount of sample can be efficiently extracted into a 100 μL of eluent by MWCNTs-MSPD, which are conveniently converted to Hg0 by SD-SEGD-CVG and further transported to atomic fluorescence spectrometry for their determination. Therefore, analyte dilution resulted from sample preparation is avoided and sensitivity is significantly improved. On the basis of consumption of 1 mg of sample, a limit of detection of 0.01 μg L-1 (0.2 pg) was obtained with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 5.2% and 4.6% for 2 and 20 μg L-1, respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method was validated by analysis of three Certified Reference Materials with satisfying results. To confirm that SD-SEGD-CVG-AFS coupling to MWCNTs-MSPD is a promising method to quantify mercury distribution in fish, this method was successfully applied for the sensitive determination of mercury in seven organs of common carps (muscle, gill, intestine, liver, gallbladder, brain, and eye) after dietary of mercury species. The proposed method provides advantages of minimum sample dilution, low blank, high sample introduction efficiency, high sensitivity, and minimum toxic chemicals and sample consumption.