Methyl mercury and inorganic mercury collection by a selective chelating resin.

A commercially available chelating resin selectively and quantitatively collects methyl mercuric and inorganic mercuric forms of mercury to the exclusion of all other metals studied, except the noble metals. Both forms of mercury can be collected from pH 1 to 9. Collected mercury is readily eluted with a slightly acid, 5 percent solution of thiourea, and the resin can be reused for many cycles. Selectivity, pH effects, capacity, and elution characteristics of the resin are described. A resin-loaded paper composed of 50 percent resin and 50 percent cellulose shows properties similar to those of the loose resin.