Abstract
A simple method is described for the rapid digestion of fish for total mercury determination by cold-vapour atomic-absorption spectrophotometry at 253.7 nm. A significant departure from previous methods is the use of concentrated hydrochloric acid together with sulphuric and nitric acids in the open digestion of samples. The digestion of up to 3 g of fish at 85–100 °C is completed within 30 min and good recoveries of mercury are obtained from NBS Albacore tuna and fish samples spiked with inorganic mercury. The detection limit is 0.01 µg g–1 of mercury.

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