Development of Mercury Analysis by NanoSIMS for the Localization of Mercury–Selenium Particles in Whale Liver

• Published in: Analytical Chemistry
• Main Authors: Schaumlöffel, Dirk, Subirana, Maria Angels, Paton, Lhiam, Hall, James, Brownlow, Andrew, Krupp, Eva, M, Feldmann, Jörg, Angels Subirana, Maria
• Other Authors: Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux (IPREM), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, SRUC Veterinary Service, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique Bio-Inorganique et Environnement (LCABIE), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ANR-11-EQPX-0027,MARSS,Centre de Spectrometrie de Masse pour les Sciences de la Réactivité et de Spéciation(2011)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: NanoSIMS; mercury; selenium; rf plasma oxygen ion source; whale liver; [CHIM.ANAL]Chemical Sciences/Analytical chemistry; Physeter macrocephalus; Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03454238; https://hal.science/hal-03454238/document; https://hal.science/hal-03454238/file/NanoSIMS_mercury.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02769

International audience Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) is a dynamic SIMS technique, which offers high spatial resolution allowing the mapping of chemical elements at the nanometer scale combined with high sensitivity. However, SIMS for mercury analysis is a challenging issue due to the low secondary ion yield and has never been done on NanoSIMS. The introduction of an rf plasma oxygen primary ion source on NanoSIMS enabled higher lateral resolution and higher sensitivity for electropositive elements such as most metals. In this paper, for the first time mercury analysis by NanoSIMS was developed applying the new rf plasma Oion source. All mercury isotopes could be detected as Hg + secondary ions and the isotopic pattern corresponded to their natural isotopic abundances. Furthermore, Hg + detection in HgSe nanocrystals has been investigated where polyatomic interferences from selenium clusters were identified and separated by high mass resolution (/M ≥ 3200). However, in presence of selenium a strong matrix effect was observed decreasing the Hg + secondary ion yield. In addition, a detection of Se + ions was possible, too. The newly developed method was successfully applied to nanoscale localization by chemical imaging of HgSe particles accumulated in liver tissue of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). This demonstrated the applicability of NanoSIMS not only for mercury detection in surface analysis but also for mercury mapping in biological samples.