DETERMINATION OF TOTAL MERCURY IN BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL BY ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY METHOD

A very simple procedure is proposed for the determination of total mercury in biological materials. The atomic absorption spectrometry method (AAS) for mercury determination was prepared. The Advanced Mercury Analyzer AMA 254 spectrometer was tested in order to determine the influence of the instrumentation on changes of the level of mercury in different biological samples (animal tissues, milk, feedstuffs). The method was validated in terms of basic analytical parameters. The mean recoveries of mercury was 101.70% for muscle and 98.30% for liver, and analytical detection limits was 0.001 µg/g. Certified reference materials and participation in national and international proficiency studies were used for analytical quality assurance programme.