No abstract

Interstitial water was extracted from field-moist soils and chalk by immiscible displacement with a dense, inert fluorocarbon liquid. The only special equipment required is a high-speed centrifuge. Yields of interstitial water from soils at field capacity are typically 20-50% of the total water present; yields from chalk range up to 90%. The interstitial water was analyzed for about 20 solutes principally by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry. The water extracted from a chalk sample appeared to be representative of all the water present, but with a clay soil, there was evidence of some fractionation of N03-N. Organic carbon ((2-7) X 10~3 M) was frequently the most abundant solute in the solutions extracted from ten topsoils. Other typical solute concentrations were in the range 10~3-1( 4 M for N03-N, Na, Mg, Si, S, Cl, K, and Ca and less than 10™6 M for the trace elements Cu, Zn, and Ba.

No abstract

This is the twentieth annual review published in JAAS of the application of atomic spectrometry to the chemical analysis of environmental samples. In the analysis of air, there is ongoing development of instrumentation for continuous emission monitoring and as a means of interrogating the composition of individual airborne particulates. Developments in mass spectrometry applications continue to be an active area of research where the advantages of low detection limits and abilities to perform isotopic measurements are being exploited. There is growing interest in performing speciation measurements in water and this is being aided by the development of hyphenated techniques, most notably via the coupling of chromatographic systems to ICP-MS. Dominant themes in the analysis of soils include the optimization of preconcentration (and matrix separation) techniques, development of speciation protocols, notably arsenic and the increased use of portable XRF systems for in situ analysis. In geological analysis, laser ablation as an analytical tool is attracting a wider audience. Multi-collector ICP-MS is increasingly being used in a number of geological facilities to perform high precision isotope ratio measurements.

This is the twenty-forth annual review published in JAAS of the application of atomic spectrometry to the chemical analysis of environmental samples. This Update refers to papers published approximately between September 2007 and August 2008. In the analysis of air, work is focused on the need to collect and characterise ultrafines, i.e. particles below 100 nm in size, and such research is being facilitated through the development of air sampler technologies for subsequent off-line analysis of particles and aerosol mass spectrometric techniques for real-time measurements. In the analysis of water elemental speciation and development of vapour generation techniques for metalloid species continue to attach attention. Data quality and metrological issues are receiving renewed interest in part due to an increase in water quality regulations. In the field of soil and plant analysis, elemental fraction and speciation protocols based upon sequential extraction procedures, chromatographic separation procedures and synchrotron radiation x-ray techniques continue to be utilized and developed. As noted in previous Updates, laser ablation continues to go from strength to strength in being adopted as a solid sampling tool in geochemical analysis. Work continues to be focused on the production, characterization and certification of new geological reference materials. Feedback on this review is most welcome and the lead author can be contacted using the email address provided. Alternatively, readers are welcome to complete the on-line questionnaire at http://www.asureviews.or