Correlation Between Total Mercury and Methyl Mercury-In Whole Blood of South Korean

• Published in: Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 1101 - 1107
• Main Authors: Jung, Seon A, Chung, Dayoung, On, Jiwon, Moon, Myeong Hee, Lee, Jeongae, Pyo, Heesoo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한화학회 20.04.2013
• Subjects: 화학
• ISSN: 0253-2964; 1229-5949; 1229-5949
• DOI: 10.5012/bkcs.2013.34.4.1101

In this study, total mercury and methyl mercury in whole blood of Korean was analyzed so as to investigate the correlation between total mercury (T-Hg) and methyl mercury (Me-Hg). 4000 whole blood samples were divided in four groups, according to T-Hg concentration in percentile: group I (p25-p50), group II (p50-p75), group III (p75-p95) and group IV (p95-p100). 100 samples were randomly selected from the each group, and Me-Hg concentration was measured. T-Hg concentration in whole blood was analyzed using a Direct Mercury Analyzer-80 and obtained limit of detection (LOD) was 0.2 μgL−1. Me-Hg concentration was analyzed with ethylate derivatization using headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and obtained LOD of methyl mercury was 0.5 μgL−1. The geometric means of T-Hg and Me-Hg were 6.35 μgL−1 and 4.44 μgL−1, respectively, and 71.91% of T-Hg was presented as Me-Hg. KCI Citation Count: 9