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Content archived on 2024-04-19

Extractable trace metal contents in soil and sediment

Objective

The eco-toxicity and mobility of metals in the environment depends strongly on their specific chemical forms or types of binding rather than the total element contents. Consequently these have to be determined in order to assess the toxic effects and geochemical pathways. The determination of specific chemical species or binding forms is difficult and often hardly possible. Therefore, in practice determinations of broader "operationally or functionally defined" forms or phases can be a reasonable compromise; e.g. "bioavailable" forms of trace elements can give sufficient information to arrive at a sound environmental policy. Single and sequential extraction schemes have been designed in the 80's in order to assess the different retention/release of metals in soil and sediment samples. However, the lack of uniformity in the different procedures used did not allow the results to be compared worldwide nor the procedures to be validated e.g. with CRMs.

The project aimed to harmonize measurements for extractable trace metal contents in soil, following a stepwise approach (through interlaboratory studies) of which the final aim was to certify soil reference materials for their extractable trace element contents.
The interlaboratory studies enabled to test and establish common single and sequential extraction procedures which were widely accepted by European expert laboratories; these schemes (acetic acid, EDTA and three-step sequential extractions) are now discussed in ISO working groups for their possible adoption as standards. The above mentioned materials were successfully certified, namely for their acetic acid- and EDTA-extractable trace element contents (CRMs 483 & 484 - Report EUR 17127 EN, 1997), the extractable trace element contents following the three-step sequential extraction procedure (CRM 601 - Report EUR 17554 EN, 1997), and their EDTA- and DTPA-extractable trace element contents (CRM 600 - Report EUR 17555 EN, 1997).
The project consisted in interlaboratory studies, using sediment and soil reference materials, to tests selected single (for soil) and sequential (for sediment) extraction procedures. This first phase was designed to evaluate the state-of-the-art of this type of analysis with a group of ca. 20 laboratories representing European expert institutes and to possibly amend the extraction schemes proposed. The interlaboratory studies were followed by the preparation of three large batches of candidate reference materials of sewage sludge amended soils (CRMs 483 and 484), sediment (CRM 601) and sewage sludge amended calcareous soil (CRM 600) and their subsequent certification for their extractable trace element contents.

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Coordinator

Fundación Bosch i Gimpera de la Universidad de Barcelona
EU contribution
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Address
21,Balmes
08007 Barcelona
Spain

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Total cost

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Participants (3)

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