Decomposition and stability studies of methylmercury in water using cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry
- 1 January 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in The Analyst
- Vol. 111 (12) , 1371-1374
- https://doi.org/10.1039/an9861101371
Abstract
The long-term stability of Hg2+ and methylmercury chloride (MeHgCl) and the decomposition of MeHgCl under various conditions were investigated. In the absence of light MeHgCl does not decompose to Hg2+, even in the presence of 25% acids, during a period up to 3 d. MeHgCl is not easily decomposed by heating in the presence of 50% acid concentrations; however, with UV light the decomposition of MeHgCl to Hg2+ takes place immediately, depending on the intensity of UV light. In the presence of SH groups (L-cysteine), partial stability and complexation of mercury was observed. For the long-term storage of Hg and MeHgCl at low concentrations, in addition to certain reagents, the material of the container is important.Keywords
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