Articles
One of the dangerous kinds of pollution in aquatic systems is due to the dumping of materials containing heavy metals. Hence, the monitoring of heavy metals in aqueous samples is becoming increasingly important. Normally, metal concentrations in water are in the ng L–1 range, and the analytical procedures used for their determination are usually based on Anodic Stripping Voltametry (ASV) and Atomic Spectrometry, including Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (ETAAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, the direct analysis of some complex environmental samples like seawater presents some difficulties, mainly due to the high salinity of the matrix. Therefore, in such cases, a dilution of the sample may be necessary before the analysis, or a preliminary separation and/or preconcentration step may be required to eliminate interferences and/or to improve detection limits for metals in the low µg L–1 range. Moreover, when the analysis is performed by using solid sorbents followed by spectrophotometric techniques, an additional elution step after the preconcentration procedure is necessary to recover the species in an appropriate medium.
X-ray fluorescence spectrometry could be a good analytical tool for trace metal analysis of vegetation samples as an alternative to classical destructive methods, given that it provides accuracy and precision fulfilling the requirements for environmental studies.
Andrzej Kuczumow,a Dominique Genty,b Pierre Chevallier,c Jakub Nowak,a Marek Floreka and Anna Lincaa
aDepartment of Chemistry, Catholic University Lublin, 102 Al.Kras´nicka, 20-718 Lublin, Poland
bLaboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE UMR CEA/CNRS 1572, Bât. 701, L’Orme des Merisiers, CEA Saclay, 91 191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France
cLURE, Campus Universitaire Paris-Sud, Bât. 209D, 91898 Orsay Cedex, France
Simon FitzGerald
Horiba Jobin Yvon Ltd, 2 Dalston Gardens, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 1BQ, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Tim S. Brewer and Peter K. Harvey
Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Andy Meharg
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, Scotland
G.J. Price, G.W. Fraser, J.F. Pearson, I.B. Hutchinson, A.D. Holland, J. Nussey, D. Vernon, D. Pullan and K. Turner
Space Research Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
