Rapid thermoscanning technique for direct analysis of mercury species in contaminated sediments: From pure compounds to real sample application

Mercury (Hg) in aquatic environments accumulates in sediments in several chemical forms, both inorganic and organic, which are often determined through time-consuming selective and sequential extraction procedures. Thermal desorption technique (pyrolysis) coupled with continuous determination by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) may be an easy-to-use alternative technique for the rapid identification and quantification of Hg species in the solid matrix. This technique is based on the gradual heating of a sample that releases Hg at different temperature intervals depending on its chemical form. Thus, a single Hg species that desorbs at a specific temperature may be identified via a thermogram of the sample.