The effect of experimental parameters on the cold-vapor mercury atomic absorption determination. Speciation analysis of sulfhydryl-bound mercury.

Two schools of thought have dominated the reduction procedure in cold-vapor atomic absorption: acidic reduction following the method of Hatch and Ott (4), and alkaline reduction as devised by Magos and Cernik (5). Our study investigates the effect of cysteine added to both mercury stock solutions and reducing solutions in combination with acidic and alkaline reduction procedures. The results allow the separate identification of mercury in the sulfhydryl complexed and uncomplexed form.