Mercury Concentration in the exahaled air, blood AND URINE AMONG PERSONS EXPOSED TO ELEMENTAL Mercury (Abstract)Pogarev, S. E.1; Ryzhov, V. V.1; Sholupov, S. E.2 and Zharskaya, V.D.31Earth Crust Res. Inst., Petersburg State Univ., Russia; 2”Lumex Ltd”, Russia; 3Rehabilitation center “Primorsky”, Russia (hg@lumex.ru)Long ago physicians evinced interest in the mercury determination in human breath. First, the mercury concentration in the exhaled air is correlated with the mercury concentration in blood. Second, it is possible to monitor the concentration level received by a person who occurred to stay in a mercury contaminated area.We have studied mercury concentration in the exhaled air, blood and urine among persons exposed to elemental mercury. Blood erythrocytes were examined by means of scanning electron microscopy. The level of intoxication exposed persons is revealed by changes of membranes erythrocytes (ERITROTEST method).For determinations of mercury concentrations in all objects we have used the RA-915+ analyser (Zeeman Atomic Absorption Spectrometer using High Frequency Modulated light polarisation (Lumex, Russia)).Use of the conventional technique with the absorption trap is complicated by the high humidity of the exhaled air and by the necessity to measure the total volume of the exhaled air. In our method the patient examined directly exhales the air during 30-60 s into the analyser. The respiration rate and depths, humidity of the exhaled air do not affect the results for all practical. The range of measurement is 5-20000 ng/m3.The concentration of mercury in urine and blood is determined by cold vapor method. Strong basic stannous dichloride solution is used to reduce mercury compounds in urine. The detection limit is on the range of 0.01 mg/l for the 1 ml samples. The whole blood samples were prepared by microwave digestion (microwave oven “Minotavr”, Lumex, Russia). The detection limit is on the range of 0.5 mg/l for the 0.5 mL blood. The accuracy of measurements is about 10 per cent.