A simple and rapid method is described for the extraction and determination of methylmercury in marine sediments. The procedure was based on the quantitative microwave-assisted extraction of methylmercury from aquatic sediment samples using hydrochloric acid and toluene as solvents. Two- and three-level factorial designs have been used to optimize the microwave extraction process. Factors such as temperature, hydrochloric acid amount, extraction time, and solvent (toluene) volume were considered. The results suggest that temperature and hydrochloric acid amount are statistically significant factors. The analysis of extracts has been carried out by capillary gas chromatography with electron capture detection.The detection limit of the procedure was 8 ng/g of sediment. Relative standard deviation for the complete procedure was 8%. Validation was carried out against sediment samples submitted to intercomparison studies within the framework of a certification project sponsored by the Bureau of Reference Materials (BCR) of the European Commission.
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Vázquez et al. (1997) studied this question.
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