Three‐Stage Sequential Extraction Procedure for Metal Partitioning in Polluted Soils and Sediments

Abstract

The sequential extraction procedure proposed by the Standard, Measurements and Testing program "SM&T" of the European Union has been applied to evaluate the amounts of Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, extracted at each stage and indirectly their mobility and bioavailability in soil and sediment samples from a polluted area. Analysis of the extracts was carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). No significant matrix interferences were found except for Cr in the acetic acid and hydroxylammonium chloride extracts, which required determination by the standard additions method. Both of soils and sediments studied show similar partitioning of Mn, Ni, Cu and Cr. Mn and Ni can be considered to have significant component bound to the acido-soluble fraction, whereas, Cr and Cu occur largely in the organic and residual phases. The partitioning of Pb and Zn was different between soil and sediment. In terms of mobility and bioavailability, in soils, Ni and Mn can be regarded as moderately available followed by a lower availability of Pb while Cu, Zn and Cr have a very limited availability. In sediments, a higher availability (short-medium term) of Mn and Zn was presumed followed by a lower availability of Ni and Pb, whereas, Cu and Cr, occurring largely in the organic and residual phases, were of very limited availability.

Monitoring of total and bioavailable heavy metals concentration in agricultural soils

“…Sequential extraction methods, although originally developed for use on sediments, have been extended to soils (Tessier et al 1979;Ure et al 1993;Garcia et al 1996;Sahuquillo et al 1999;Abollino et al 2002Abollino et al , 2005Elass et al 2004;Mu-Hua et al 2005). However, although they are useful for assessing the relative importance of the different forms of metals (exchangeable, bound to carbonates, bound to iron and manganese oxides, bound to organic matter and residues), they have several limitations: they are rather laborious, can be sources of errors if not properly carried out, and not have been unreservedly accepted by the scientific community because the results are seldom comparable and depend on the analytical conditions used.…”

Assessment of Metal Availability in a Contaminated Soil by Sequential Extraction

“…Nevertheless, such procedures are widely used in environmental sciences to assess metal mobility in soils polluted by different causes, such as industrial and mining activities (Burt et al, 2003;Mossop and Davidson, 2003) and wastewaters (Elass et al, 2004), or in urban and agricultural soils (Wong et al, 2002;Zhai et al, 2003). They allow also to study the availability of native and added metals to plants (Chlopecka, 1996;Shuman et al, 2001) and to evaluate the feasibility and/or efficiency of soil remediation techniques (Reddy et al, 2001;Sun et al, 2001).…”

Speciation of heavy metals in street dust samples from Sakarya I. Organized industrial district using the BCR sequential extraction procedure by ICP-OES

“…Sequential extraction is a well-established method for the fractionation of heavy metal content in soils, sediments, dust and related materials [24]. The BCR sequential extraction procedure (The European Community Bureau of Reference) provides suitable information about the bioavailability and speciation of potentially toxic elements and speciation instead of total concentration of metals [25].…”