Determination of mercury in ambient water samples by anodic stripping voltammetry on screen-printed gold electrodes

The applicability of commercial screen-printed gold electrodes (SPGEs) for the determination of Hg(II) in ambient water samples by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry has been demonstrated. Electrode conditioning procedures, chemical and instrumental variables have been optimized to develop a reliable method capable of measuring dissolved mercury in the low ng mL−1 range (detection limit 1.1 ng mL−1), useful for pollution monitoring or screening purposes. The proposed method was tested with the NIST 1641d Mercury in Water Standard Reference Material (recoveries 90.0–110%) and the NCS ZC 76303 Mercury in Water Certified Reference Material (recoveries 82.5–90.6%). Waste water samples from industrial origin and fortified rain water samples were assayed for mercury by the proposed method and by a reference ICP-MS method, with good agreement. Screen printing technology thus opens a useful way for the construction of reliable electrochemical sensors for decentralized or even field Hg(II) testing.