Comparison of Three Analytical Methods for the Quantitation of Mercury in Environmental Samples from the Volta Lake,...

Three analytical methods using automatic mercury analyzer (AMA), direct mercury analyzer (DMA) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were applied to determine mercury in fish and sediment samples from the Volta Lake in Ghana with the aim of comparing their accuracy, precision, and limit of quantifications. There was statistically no significant difference (p < 0.05) between the concentrations recorded by the methods. This indicates their suitability for the accurate determination of mercury. Limit of quantification was found to be in the order; ICP-MS (0.053 ng/g) < DMA (0.527 ng/g) < AMA (2.193 ng/g). Though each of the three methods has a suitable ability in determining accurately the concentrations of mercury in fish and sediment, for the determination of very low concentrations of mercury ICP-MS should be preferred considering the order of the detection limit which follows the trend ICP-MS (0.016 ng/g) < DMA (0.158 ng/g) < AMA (0.509 ng/g).