COMPARISON OF CONTENTS OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC MERCURY BETWEEN THE EXTRACT WITH HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND THE DIGESTED SPECIMENS BY SODIUM HYDROXIDE IN HUMAN HAIR

The extractability of mercury in hair with hydrochloric acid differed dependent upon the time-interval between the shearing of hair and the measurement1). We had not exactly known what was the cause having made the difference, but the fact that the rate of nonextractable amount of mercury to the total was larger according to the time span after shearing, has suggested the change of chemical form of mercurials in hair or the difference in the intake of different mercury compounds at the old times. To get further information related to this problem, the selective estimation of inorganic and organic mercury, which is applicable to the hair sample, should be useful. We have already measured the inorganic mer-cury and the total mercury in cases of urine, blood and tissue homogenate, that is basically an application of Magos and Cernik's method2), but this measurement has been practical only after the HCl-extraction in the case of hair. We need a method which is capable in selective measurement of inorganic and organic mer-cury in hair. In this connection, a new method developed by Magos3), in which the homogenate of skin and fur was prepared without decomposing the organic mercury, is promising. Then, we intend to compare contents of inorganic and organic mercury in the HCl-extract with those in the digested specimens by sodium hydroxide in human hair.