Determination of total mercury in estuary, lake and river sediments

In order to improve the quality of the results in sediment analysis, the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) of the European Communities has developed 3 sediment reference materials (CRM) from estuarine, lake and river origins. Certification of mercury content in these materials was achieved by 3 methods (cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry, plasma emission spectrometry, neutron activation analysis with radiochemical separation). The values finally certified in the CRM estuarine, lake and river sediments are 1.77 +/- 0.06, 0.67 +/- 0.02, 1.03 +/- 0.13 mg/kg respectively.