Consumption of seafood is the primary exposure route of methylmercury for humans, emphasizing the importance of accurately measuring methylmercury in fish. As with all analytical method setup, the determination of methylmercury content in fish has to meet the criteria of modern analytical methodology, including reproducibility, repeatability, and accuracy at low concentrations. These characteristics are facilitated by using an HPLC system with a metal-free flow path, which eliminates the possibility of mercury leaching into the mobile phase, thereby affecting the lowest concentrations which can be measured.
This work demonstrates the accurate and reliable determination of methyl- and inorganic mercury in fish using PerkinElmer’s NexSAR™ HPLC-ICP-MS speciation solution, leveraging the inert, metal-free flow path of the NexSAR HPLC system in combination with the robust and versatile NexION® ICP-MS.