Analysis of mercury traces by means of solid sample atomic absorption spectrometry

Analyses of Hg traces on 32 different samples, mostly food, e.g. cereals, milk and fish, have been carried out. To this purpose the AMA-254 Hg analyzer has been employed. This unit does not require any sample digestion: the instrumental reading takes place on the sample as it is (either solid or liquid) by means of atomic absorption spectrometry at the wavelength of 253.65 nm. Usual global working range is estimated in 0-2 mg/kg, with particular suitability in the interval 0-0.2 mg/kg. Accuracy is evaluated by resorting to reference materials. Precision is assessed on both homogeneous and heterogeneous samples. The limit of detection is calculated to be 0.5 mu g/kg.