Monoclonal Antibody-Based Enzyme Immunoassay for Mercury(II) Determination

A monoclonal antibody (K3C6) was developed against Hg(II) and applied in different enzyme immunoassay (EIA) formats to determine the test system with the highest sensitivity. A detection limit of 1.0 mu g/L Hg(II) could be achieved with a competitive format in contrast to a detection limit of 2.1 mu g/L Hg(II) with a noncompetitive EIA. A competitive displacement EIA yielded the best detection limit of 0.4 mu g/L Hg(II) and was well suited to measuring real samples. For this purpose different water samples were diluted at least 1:10 to avoid matrix effects and subsequently spiked with 1 mu g/L HgCl2. Recovery of the spiked samples was between 80 and 120%.