Comparison of extraction procedures for methylmercury determination by a SPME-GC-AFS system

In this study the comparison of three different alkaline extraction techniques carried out with methanolic NaOH followed by phenylation derivatization for the determination of methylmercury in marine fish was performed. The investigated three methods differed in the technique how the extraction assisting energy was introduced to the sample. Namely, closed vessel ultrasonic bath, an open vessel technique using an ultrasonic probe and the microwave assisted extraction procedures were characterized and optimized. Optimum values of 3 h at 75 °C for the ultrasonic bath, 25 min for the ultrasonic probe and 6 min at 60 W for the microwave method were obtained. All three methods were validated using the BCR-464 tuna fish certified reference material.