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Certified reference materials for mercury in soils and sediments
Monomethylmercury compounds are of great concern, as these highly toxic compounds are formed biotically by microorganisms in sediment and algae in sea water and/or abiotically. Once it is formed, methylmercury is bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the aquatic food chains, thus resulting in exposure levels among fish-eating populations, often at levels exceeding what is regarded as a safe level.
It is therefore of primary interest to have samples from sediments since this is the starting point of the food chain.
The main issues to be controlled during the analysis of sediments for the speciation analysis of mercury are:
- quantitativeness of extraction of the species from the sediment/soil
- absence of artificial formation of methylmercury during the analytical procedure
- control of contamination mainly for inorganic mercury
- control of the derivatization yield
- avoidance of ion-exchange and adsorption problems on GC column packing materials
CRMs play a major role in the development and validation of
methods and for quality control. The following certified reference
materials (CRMs) are available for the speciation of mercury species in soils and sediments:
* () =information value only, []= original certification no longer valid
NB:! click on the suppliers name to reach his website, click on the
material name for a link to the report, click on the certified species
for a link to the certificate
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