Summary of Methylmercury in Soil and Related Analytical Methods

This article aims to provide a brief overview on soil methylmercury(MeHg) pollution in China and summarize related analytic methods. MeHg levels in soil of certain areas in China are as high as 20 μg/kg. Hyphenated techniques are still the major method for soil MeHg detection, but chemical sensor as a novel means of detection has been deployed. The relative high MeHg levels in some soils in China require making standards to control pollution. In addition, establishing an effective and feasible MeHg enrichment and separation method with high accuracy and sensitivity should be a critical direction of future MeHg detection, and chemical sensor technology might be a hotspot of future study in this field.