Validation and Determination of Mercury in Yemeni Common Canned Tuna Using Direct Mercury Analyzer

Abstract

The presence of Hg in canned tuna flesh is a major source of customer concern. Thus, the primary goal of this investigation was to evaluate total mercury levels in Yemeni canned tuna. Thirty-one samples of seven popular locally canned tuna brands were acquired from local stores in Sana'a. A Direct Mercury Analyzer was used to determine the mercury content. The linearity of the method was tested by assessing a series of mercury standards in triplicates at concentrations ranging from 20 to 500 ppb. The correlation coefficient for this method was 0.9993. The repeatability of the procedure was measured as intra-day variation and given as the relative standard deviation, which did not exceed 4.45%. This indicated the excellent precision of the method. Mercury recoveries from spiked actual canned tuna samples were between 96.61% and 100.49%, demonstrating excellent accuracy and an acceptable procedure for mercury measurement. The limits of detection and quantitation were 1.62 ppb and 5.4 ppb, respectively. The mercury content in 31 canned tuna samples was less than the 500 ppb standard imposed by the Yemeni Organization for Standards Metrology and Quality Control (YSMO).