Determination of mercury levels in human urine and blood by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry

Abstract

A method for the determination of mercury levels in biological samples, i.e., human urine and blood, has been developed using an incomplete cubane-type sulfur-bridged molybdenum aqua complex, Mo₃S₄⁴⁺(aq), with analysis by spectrophotometry. The primary advantage of the method is that when the ‘complex’ is dissolved in sulfuric acid it reacts directly with mercury, produced by the addition of a reducing agent to samples containing mercury(II), giving an intense coloration. Levels of mercury in the biological samples can be determined using the ‘complex’ dissolved in sulfuric acid. The detection limit for mercury(II) in urine and blood was 0.05 ppm at the wavelength of maximum absorption (λ_max= 556 nm).