Objective To find a rapid, precise, and high-throughput method for the determination of total urine mercury levels of occupational population by comparing several pretreatment methods of urine samples.
Methods Three pretreatment methods including microwave digestion, constant-temperature potassium permanganate oxidation, and acidic potassium bromatepotassium bromide (KBrO3/KBr) digestion system were applied under optimal conditions. Parameters of method performance such as accuracy, precision, sensitivity, recovery, and time for detection were compared.
Results The results of microwave digestion and KBrO3/KBr digestion system were in excellent agreement. The spiked recovery rates of the two methods were in the range of 101.5%-112.2% and 105.5%-110.0%, with relative standard deviations of 2.4% and 1.7%, respectively. The pretreatment time of the two methods was 6 h and 15 min, respectively. In addition, the results by constant-temperature potassium permanganate oxidation method were on the higher side with spiked recovery rate about 130%. Certified reference samples of lyophilized urine were used to validate the KBrO3/KBr digestion method and the results were in good agreement with the reference values.
Conclusion Acidic KBrO3/KBr digestion method is precise, efficient and rapid for the determination of total mercury in batches of urine samples of occupational population.
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