HG-AFS Determination of Bismuth and Mercury in Aquo-system Sediments

The sample of aquo-system sediment was dissolved with mixed solution of HCl-HNO3-H2O(3+1+4), and the contents of bismuth and mercury were determined by HG-AFS. Influential factors, including pH of medium, concentration of KBH4, negative high-voltage and lamp current were studied and optimized. The detection limits (3S/N) of bismuth and mercury found were 0.02 and 0.01 μg·L-1 respectively, and values of RSD′s (n=11) were less than 0.5%. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of standard samples of aquo-system sediment, and the results obtained were in conformity with their certified values.