Review—Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors for Determination of Mercury Ions

Abstract

Due to its toxicity, mercury determination is of great importance in human health and pollution monitoring. The mercury compounds can be released into our environment in several ways. Therefore, so many analytical procedures have been developed for detection of mercury. In this review, the analytical methods used for determination of mercury ions have been reported highlighting the electrochemical methods and in particular electrochemical biosensors. The electrochemical biosensors for determination of mercury were categorized into three groups including DNA-based, enzyme-based and whole-cell based biosensors and the mechanisms of the function of each group were described. The advantages and challenges of each class of biosensors are discussed in this review.