Rapid Determination of Mercury in Native Chinese Herbal Medicine by Hydride Generation-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry with Aqua Regia-Hydrogen Peroxide Heat Extraction

A method for the rapid determination of trace mercury in Chinese herbal medicine by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry is established. The samples were dissolved by aqua regia-hydrogen peroxide oxidation in a hot water bath, the recoveries were 98.6%~105.4%, the relative standard deviations were 3.0%~7.4%, when the concentration of standard series in the range of 0.000~6.000 μg/L, the standard curve liner relationship was good, the correlation coefficient was 0.999 9, the linear regression equation was: IF=301.512C+1.235, the detection limit of the method was 0.021 6 μg/L. The method is simple, rapid, highly sensitive with less sample quantity, the method is effective for the analysis of trace amount of mercury in native Chinese herbal medicine.