ABSTRACT
A method for the determination of methylmercury in seafood has been developed using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by direct mercury analyzer. Total mercury was detected by direct mercury analyzer, and inorganic mercury was calculated by the difference. The parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, including the selection of extractant and dispersant, their volume ratio, concentration of HCl and NaCl have been optimized in this study. The results showed that CH2 Cl2 as extractant, ethanol as dispersant, Volume ration of 1:5, 1 mol/L HCl and 120 g/L NaCl were chosen. The detection limit and the dynamic liner range were 0. 10 μg/L and 0. 2-20 μg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviation was 6. 0% for eleven replicates at the spiked level of 2. 0 μg/L. The enrichment factor was 8. For total Hg determination, the detection limit and the dynamic liner range for methylmercury were 0. 10 μg/kg and 0. 2-50 μg/kg, respectively. The relative standard deviation was 2. 4%. The method was simple, fast and a little solvent needed. Some certified reference materials were analyzed to validate the accuracy of the proposed method, and the results were in good agreement with the reference value. Besides, the method was applied to the real samples with satisfactory results.