Induction heating-electrothermal vaporization for direct mercury determination in a single human hair by atomic fluorescence and atomic absorption spectrometry

A compact, rapid and cost-efficient system for the determination of total mercury (Hg) in a single human hair strand is presented. The system uses induction heating-electrothermal vaporization and gold amalgamation trapping in tandem with either atomic fluorescence spectrometry or atomic absorption spectrometry with background correction detection. Using these techniques, detection limits of 0.1 ng or 0.2 μg g and 0.08 ng or 0.1 μg g (based on a 0.6 mg sample) of Hg were achieved, respectively.