▎ 摘　　要

Thiomersal is employed as preservative in vaccines, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products due to its capacity to inhibit bacterial growth. Thiomersal contains 49.55% of mercury in its composition and its highly toxic ethylmercury degradation product has been linked to neurological disorders. The photo-degradation of thiomersal has been achieved by visible light using graphene quantum dots as catalysts. The generated mercury cold vapor (using adjusted experimental conditions) was detected by multipath atomic absorption spectrometry allowing the quantification of thiomersal at values as low as 20 ng L-1 even in complex samples as aqueous effluents of pharmaceutical industry and urine. A kinetic study (pseudo-first order with k = 0.11 min(-1)) and insights on the photo-degradation process are presented. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.