Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination
Humans are exposed to toxic monomethylmercury (MMHg) principally by the consumption of marine fish. However, and due in part to analytical limitations, little is known about the distribution, sources, and biogeochemical cycling of MMHg in the ocean, where aqueous concentrations are in the femtomolar...
Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography: Methods |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2011
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flom.2011.9.121 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 |
id |
crwiley:10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 2024-06-23T07:55:09+00:00 Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination Bowman, Katlin L. Hammerschmidt, Chad R. 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flom.2011.9.121 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Limnology and Oceanography: Methods volume 9, issue 4, page 121-128 ISSN 1541-5856 1541-5856 journal-article 2011 crwiley https://doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 2024-06-11T04:45:14Z Humans are exposed to toxic monomethylmercury (MMHg) principally by the consumption of marine fish. However, and due in part to analytical limitations, little is known about the distribution, sources, and biogeochemical cycling of MMHg in the ocean, where aqueous concentrations are in the femtomolar range and often less than current limits of detection. Here, we present a simple method for extraction and analysis of MMHg in seawater that has a detection limit of about 2 fM for a 2‐L sample, which is a 10‐fold improvement over current approaches. The technique, which is readily adaptable to a shipboard laboratory, involves purging and quantification of dimethylmercury (DMHg) from an unaltered 2‐L water sample followed by acidification to 1% with H 2 SO 4 for > 6 h, pH neutralization, derivatization of MMHg in the seawater matrix with an ethylating agent, and purge‐and‐trap analysis with gas‐chromatographic cold‐vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The method was developed and validated with analyses of seawater from the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in addition to two fresh waters. This technique can be used to quantify, differentiate, and develop an improved understanding of the biogeochemistries of MMHg and DMHg in the ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Wiley Online Library Pacific Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 9 4 121 128 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Humans are exposed to toxic monomethylmercury (MMHg) principally by the consumption of marine fish. However, and due in part to analytical limitations, little is known about the distribution, sources, and biogeochemical cycling of MMHg in the ocean, where aqueous concentrations are in the femtomolar range and often less than current limits of detection. Here, we present a simple method for extraction and analysis of MMHg in seawater that has a detection limit of about 2 fM for a 2‐L sample, which is a 10‐fold improvement over current approaches. The technique, which is readily adaptable to a shipboard laboratory, involves purging and quantification of dimethylmercury (DMHg) from an unaltered 2‐L water sample followed by acidification to 1% with H 2 SO 4 for > 6 h, pH neutralization, derivatization of MMHg in the seawater matrix with an ethylating agent, and purge‐and‐trap analysis with gas‐chromatographic cold‐vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The method was developed and validated with analyses of seawater from the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in addition to two fresh waters. This technique can be used to quantify, differentiate, and develop an improved understanding of the biogeochemistries of MMHg and DMHg in the ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bowman, Katlin L. Hammerschmidt, Chad R. |
spellingShingle |
Bowman, Katlin L. Hammerschmidt, Chad R. Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
author_facet |
Bowman, Katlin L. Hammerschmidt, Chad R. |
author_sort |
Bowman, Katlin L. |
title |
Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
title_short |
Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
title_full |
Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
title_fullStr |
Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
title_full_unstemmed |
Extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
title_sort |
extraction of monomethylmercury from seawater for low‐femtomolar determination |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flom.2011.9.121 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Limnology and Oceanography: Methods volume 9, issue 4, page 121-128 ISSN 1541-5856 1541-5856 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.121 |
container_title |
Limnology and Oceanography: Methods |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
121 |
op_container_end_page |
128 |
_version_ |
1802647598262124544 |