Developing a Reliable Protocol for the Simultaneous Analysis of Selenium and Mercury in Lake Erie Fish

Open Access
- Author:
- Price, Ashley
- Area of Honors:
- Biology (Behrend)
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Jason Alan Bennett, Thesis Supervisor
Michael A Campbell, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Selenium
Mercury
ICP-MS
inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Lake Erie - Abstract:
- The presence of mercury in the human diet, commonly found in seafood, is a health concern for people of all ages. According to the EPA, introducing excessive amounts of mercury to the gastrointestinal tract can lead to skin rashes, dermatitis, mood swings, memory loss, mental disturbances and muscle weakness. Exposure to mercury has increased types of tumors found in rats, and in some cases, ingesting it has resulted in kidney failure. Recently, scientists have studied the relationship between selenium and mercury, as selenium has the potential to reduce health risks associated with mercury. Selenium irreversibly binds with mercury and prevents the toxic element from crossing the blood brain barrier and affecting the brain. The objective of this project was to develop a protocol for determining the individual concentrations of mercury and selenium from fish commonly caught and consumed in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania. Although previous research has been completed in other freshwater and marine environments, no research has focused on the Presque Isle watershed to date. Complications with selenium and mercury standards, including volatility, was shown to affect the calculated concentrations of unknown samples. A NIST standard reference material was therefore utilized in order to optimize the digestion of the fish, the matrix for the calibration standards for both mercury and selenium in order to obtain accurate measurements using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Using the protocols developed, one could assess possible health risk in the fish consumed from Presque Isle Bay and the relationship between selenium and mercury within these fish.