Separation and determination of mercury from nail and hair in petrochemical workers based on silver carbon nanotubes by microwave-assisted headspace sorbent trap

Abstract


 In this work, a robust method was developed for the determination of mercury in nail and hair in petrochemical workers. By experimental procedure, 100 mg of hair and nail of workers was prepared as a powder which dried in the oven for 20 min at 95oC. 20 mg of hair or nail samples added to reagents (HNO3/H2O2; 5:1) in polyethylene tube (PET) of microwave digestion and the mercury in resulting solution was removed with silver nanoparticles pasted on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ag-MWCNTs) which were placed in head space of separator. The mercury vapor was removed by Ag-MWCNTs as the headspace sorbent trap (HSST) under hood conditions. Finally, the mercury was online determined by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry after the heat process at 250oC in the presence of Ar gas. The capacity adsorptions of Ag-MWCNTs and MWCNTs for mercury removal were obtained 205.4 mg g-1 and 63.7 mg g-1, respectively.

Determination of mercury values in urine and air of chloralkali workers by copper nanoparticles functionalized in carboxylic carbon nanotubes and the effects of mercury exposure on oxidative stress

“…Greater production of ROS can lead to oxidative stress and may induce dysfunctions and structural damages such as mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, oxidation, and deterioration of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and DNA [23]. Numerous studies have also identified a significant positive relationship between the dose of mercury exposure in hair samples and high blood pressure [24]. In the cardiovascular system, the endothelium functioning is essential to the maintenance of the blood flow and the antithrombotic capacity.…”