Differences between super-centrifuged and membrane-filtrated soil solutions obtained from bulked and non-bulked topsoils by soil centrifugation

The composition of the soil solution must be known to estimate the mobility and availability of plant nutrients and contaminants. When soil centrifugation is used to obtain the soil water for analysis, bulked soil samples are normally used in order to reduce random variations. In the present study, large systematic differences between the centrifugates from bulked and core samples are reported. For most of the soil solution components, no, or only small differences could be detected between super-centrifuged and membrane-filtrated solutions.     

Semi-micro solvent extraction as a rapid and efficient preconcentration technique for the determination of n-alkanes in oil-contaiminated water and soil samples by capillary gas chromatography

Summary In this study, a rapid and efficient semi-micro extraction procedure is presented for the extraction of some higher n-alkanes from water and soil samples. In the case of water samples n-hexane was used as the organic phase in a phase volume ratio (volume of aqueous phase/volume of organic phase) higher than 285, while in the case of soil samples, extraction with n-hexane was carried out in the presence of an excess of 2 M NaCl solution. The extraction rate from soil samples is very high and is better than Soxhlet extraction, comparable with supercritical fluid extraction. High preconcentration factor in water samples allows the limits of detection to be in the ng.mL⁻¹ level with the use of gas chromatographic analysis. Flame ionization detector was used for monitoring the analytes. The obtained recoveries of all studied compounds from both water and soil samples are higher than 90%. This method was successfully used to determine some n-alkanes in municipal wastewater and contaminated soil.     

Determination of 90Sr in soil, grass and cereals

⁹⁰Sr was measured in environmental samples in Upper Austria in the year 2005. After the nuclear weapon tests the average deposition of ⁹⁰Sr in Austria amounted to 3.3 kBq/m². In 1986 the average deposition was 0.9 kBq/m² [1]. To assess the actual condition in soil, grass and cereals ⁹⁰Sr was measured in these samples. For all samples oxalate precipitation was conducted and strontium specific columns (Eichrom Industries, Inc.) were used. The calcium concentration in these samples was determined to estimate the amount of resin needed for the preparation. For grass and cereal samples columns were packed with the 100–150 μm resin to gain a lower limit of detection LLD below 2 and below 0.1 Bq/kg_{dry matter} respectively. The prepacked 2 mL columns with particle size 100–150 μm were used for soil (LLD below 2 Bq/kg_{dry matter}). After digestion of soil samples, hydroxide precipitation was used as an additional separation step. The ⁹⁰Sr was measured by liquid scintillation counting. For quality control reasons, first the initial strontium concentration in the sample was determined then a strontium carrier solution was added and after the separation steps the chemical recovery was determined by ICP-MS. Thus, no radioactive tracer and just a small amount of the measuring solution were needed. The results are presented and discussed. These results will be used as reference for further ⁹⁰Sr analyses which will be conducted in a 5 year period to detect any radiological impact of the nuclear power plant Temelin on the environment of Austria.     

Slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the determination of As and Se in soil and sludge

Slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization (ETV) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been applied to determine As and Se in soil and sludge samples. The influences of instrument operating conditions and slurry preparation on the ion signals were reported. Pd and ascorbic acid were used as mixed modifiers to enhance the ion signals. The effectiveness of ETV sample introduction technique for alleviating various spectral interferences in ICP-MS analysis has been demonstrated. This method has been applied to determine As and Se in NIST SRM 2709 San Joaquin soil reference material and NIST SRM 2781 domestic sludge reference material and a farmland soil sample collected locally. Since the sensitivities of As and Se in slurry solution and aqueous solution were different, analyte addition technique was used to determine As and Se in these samples. The As and Se analysis results of the reference materials agreed with the certified values. The precision between sample replicates was better than 5% for all determinations. The method detection limit estimated from analyte addition curves was about 0.03 and 0.02 μg g⁻¹ for As and Se, respectively, in original soil and sludge samples.     

Comparative characteristic studies on soil and commercial humic acids

Summary Two commercial and eight soil humic acids were characterized to evaluate the use of commercial humic materials in soil and environmental studies. Significant differences between commercial and soil humic acids were observed in ash content, major and micro-element constituents, E₄/E₆ ratio, total acidity and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy; but data from stability constant and IR-spectroscopy were almost identical. The commercial materials appeared to be significantly less aromatic and more aliphatic in nature as compared with representative soil humic acids. The above discrepancies were interpreted as indicating an origin of the respective commercial product other than soil. The two commercial humic acids investigated may not originate from the same source material as evidenced by clear-cut differences in the intensity of the ¹³C-NMR spectra in almost all chemical shift regions. Due to the observed structural, compositional and characteristic dissimilarities, both between soil and commercial humic acids and between different commercial ones, the commercial humic products are not recommended to be used as analogues of real soil humic acids in soil and environmental studies.     

Atomic force microscopy of soil and stream fulvic acids

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to image fulvic acid (FA) deposited from aqueous solution on to the basal-plane surfaces of freshly cleaved muscovite, and allowed to air dry. Two fulvic acid samples were used: a soil fulvic acid (SFA) prepared by NaOH extraction from a muck soil underlying a freshwater fen in the New Jersey Pinelands and the IHSS standard Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA). The use of tapping-mode AFM (TMAFM), a relatively new technique which reduces the lateral frictional forces generally associated with contact-mode AFM, allowed excellent images of delicate FA structures to be obtained with minimal sample disturbance. Four main structures were observed on SFA. At low concentrations, sponge-like structures consisting of rings ( 15 nm in diameter) appeared, along with small spheres (10–50 nm). At higher concentrations, aggregates of spheres formed branches and chain-like assemblies. At very high surface coverage, perforated sheets were observed. On some samples, all of these structures were apparent, perhaps owing to concentration gradients on drying. SRFA samples were only imagined at higher concentrations. Spheres, aggregated branches, and perforated sheets were apparent. The results agree with previous work by Stevenson and Schnitzer [Soil Sci., 133(1992) 179], who applied TEM to soil FAs freeze-dried on muscovite. However, the TEM images did not detect the smaller spheres and sponge-like structures observed by AFM at low concentrations. The relevance of imaging dried samples remains questionable; hence, it is hoped in the future to use new in situ TMAFM to image FAs sorbed to surfaces in solution. Although TMAFM provided excellent images, a variety of artifacts and potential problems were encountered, as discussed.     

Rapid analysis of ecstasy and related phenethylamines in seized tablets by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy with far-red excitation has been used to study seized, tableted samples of MDMA (N-methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) and related compounds (MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-B and amphetamine sulfate), as well as pure standards of these drugs. We have found that by using far-red (785 nm) excitation the level of fluorescence background even in untreated seized samples is sufficiently low that there is little difficulty in obtaining good quality data with moderate 2 min data accumulation times. The spectra can be used to distinguish between even chemically-similar substances, such as the geometrical isomers MDEA and MBDB, and between different polymorphic/hydrated forms of the same drug. Moreover, these differences can be found even in directly recorded spectra of seized samples which have been bulked with other materials, giving a rapid and non-destructive method for drug identification. The spectra can be processed to give unambiguous identification of both drug and excipients (even when more than one compound has been used as the bulking agent) and the relative intensities of drug and excipient bands can be used for quantitative or at least semi-quantitative analysis. Finally, the simple nature of the measurements lends itself to automatic sample handling so that sample throughputs of 20 samples per hour can be achieved with no real difficulty.     

气相色谱法测定土壤中酰胺类除草剂

建立了从土壤中同时提取甲草胺、乙草胺和丁草胺并采用气相色谱法测定的分析方法。采用丙酮-石油醚(2:1,V/V)为提取液,经弗罗里矽硅土固相萃取柱净化,超声30 min、振荡10 min。测定结果显示,甲草胺、乙草胺、丁草胺的保留时间分别为16.333,16.019,20.249 min;线性相关系数>0.9990;6个平行样品在0.10,0.50,0.90 mg/kg的添加水平回收率在84.9%~101.0%之间;对3种酸碱度不同的土壤样品进行了重复测定,得到相对标准偏差(RSD)在0.88%~4.3%之间。方法的检出限分别为甲草胺300 ng/kg,乙草胺400 ng/kg,丁草胺400 ng/kg。定量限分别为甲草胺3.3μg/kg,乙草胺3.9μg/kg,丁草胺3.9μg/kg。方法可同时检测土壤中甲草胺、乙草胺、丁草胺残留量。     

Determination of pyridine in soil and water samples of a polluted area

A method for the analyses of pyridine in environmental samples is described. For soil samples a distillation procedure followed by an extraction, an acidic extraction or a Soxhlet extraction can be used. For water samples a distillation procedure followed by extraction can be employed. Deuterated pyridine is used as an internal standard and the extracts are analyzed by GC-MS. The recoveries of the methods are higher than 80%; the detection limits for pyridine are 0.01 mg/kg for soil samples and 0.2 g/l for water samples.     

Determination of minor elements in soil profiles by neutron activation analysis

Soil samples are often used in an effort to place a suspect at a particular location, i. e., material from the suspect's shoes, clothes, car, etc. is compared with soil from the crime area. The trace element concentration in both samples has been used to establish identity; this has been obtained usually by use of neutron activation analysis. In rural areas and farms more than half a dozen different kinds of soil may be present, and each soil may consist of several horizons. Horizons in turn may be broken down into sub-horizons or transitional layers, depending upon the humus present and the amount of weathering. Thus it would appear that comparison of soil samples would require rather exhaustive knowledge of the terrain, depth, and history of the samples area since variations of the elements in the soil are affected by eluviation (washing out) or illuviation (washing in). Such variations are illustrated by showing the change of concentration of elements with soil depth. Even though most forensic applications require comparisons of only the top inch or two of soil, the samples must be classified as to depth and type of soil since man often change the soil profile (ploughing, construction, etc.), or nature does (rain, decay, etc.). We have collected a number of soil samples from a several square mile area in both the horizontal and vertical profile. These soils were dried, thoroughly mixed, and portions, irradiated for one minute (for short half-life induced activities), and one week (for long half-life activities) at a flux of ∼10 n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹. Standards were irradiated in the same manner as samples. A number of elements were determined non-destructively; chemical separation was performed to determine others. Our results indicate great variation (factors of two or more occur in the concentration of many trace elements in going from the surface to several inches below. Similar variations occur in the horizontal plane. These data ind ate that comparison of soil samples by use of trace element concentrations is subject to considerable uncertainty. If large variations can be found within a small sampling area, the statistical significance of apparent agreement between two samples appears highly questionable. Research sponsored by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation.     

Laser-based detection of PAHs and BTXE-aromatics in oil polluted soil samples

Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and fiber optics are applied for the detection of aromatic hydrocarbons in oil contaminated water and soil samples. Time-integrated data accumulation of fluorescence intensities in an "early" and in a "late" time window with respect to the exciting laser pulse simplifies the method in such a way that it becomes very attractive for practical applications. For ultraviolet laser excitation at 337 nm and recording fluorescence signals at 400 nm, typical detection limits of the present set-up are 0.5 mg engine oil/L in water and 5 mg engine oil/kg in soil. A discrimination between BTXE-aromatics and PAHs in oil polluted soil or water samples is possible, when more than one laser wavelength in the ultraviolet is used for the excitation. The possibilities for a thermal discrimination between different aromatics are also discussed.     

气相色谱法测定苹果和土壤中的高效氯氟氰菊酯

建立了改进的QuEChERS-气相色谱检测苹果和土壤中高效氯氟氰菊酯残留的分析方法,考察和评价了苹果和土壤两种基质对高效氯氟氰菊酯的基质效应。苹果和土壤样品均用乙腈提取,经石墨化碳黑（GCB）净化后直接进样分析。结果表明：在优化后的QuEChERS条件下,高效氯氟氰菊酯在0.05~10 mg/L范围内线性关系良好,相关系数（R²）大于0.999,检出限为0.12~0.15 μg/kg,定量限为0.38~0.50 μg/kg。用基质标准曲线定量时,高效氯氟氰菊酯在土壤和苹果中的回收率分别为88.29%~97.65%和80.70%~98.69%。苹果和土壤样品对高效氯氟氰菊酯都表现出基质增强效应。该方法的回收率均能达到残留分析要求,用基质配制标准溶液能够有效、方便地校正气相色谱-电子捕获检测器测定高效氯氟氰菊酯残留时的基质效应,且能应用于苹果和土壤实际样品的检测。     

Development of a method based on accelerated solvent extraction and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry for determination of arylphenoxypropionic herbicides in soil

A sensitive and specific analytical procedure for determining arylphenoxypropionic herbicides in soil samples, using Ionspray ionization (ISI) liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), is presented. Arylphenoxypropionic acids are a new class of herbicides used for selective removal of most grass species from any non-grass crop, commercialized as herbicide esters. Previous studies have shown that the esters undergo fast hydrolysis in the presence of vegetable tissues and soil bacteria, yelding the corresponding free acid. The feasibility of rapidly extracting arylphenoxypropionic herbicides from soil by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) techniques was evaluated. Four different soil samples were fortified with target compounds at levels of 5 and 20 ng/g by following a procedure able to mimic weathered soils. Herbicides were extracted by a methanol/water (80:20 v/v) solution (0.12 M) of NaCl at 90 degrees C. After clean-up using graphitized carbon black (GCB) as absorbent, the extract was analyzed by HPLC/ISI-MS. The effect of concentration of acid in the mobile phase on the response of ISI-MS was investigated. The effects of varying the orifice plate voltage on the production of diagnostic fragment ions, and on the response of the MS detector, were also investigated. The ISI-MS response was linearly related to the amounts of analytes injected between 1 and 200 ng. The limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of the method for the pesticides in soil samples was estimated to be less than 1 ng/g.     

Sorption of cobalt(II) on soil: effects of birnessite and humic acid

To study the sorption behavior of Co(II) on soil and soil components such as birnessite, humic acid (HA) and their mixture, a series of experiment were conducted using the batch equilibrium technique on parameters such as equilibrium time, ionic strength, solution pH, and temperature. The soil samples collected from location near radioactive waste repository in Korea were used and birnessite was synthesized using a method by McKenzie for experiment. The experimental results indicate that Co sorption on soil, birnessite and soil with birnessite are strongly affected by the pH of solution. Typical for metal sorption to soils, the fraction of Co adsorbed increased as a function of pH at the experimental conditions. For sorption isotherm, the Freundlich equation provides a good fit for sorption on soil and soil with birnessite. Adsorption of HA on birnessite decreased with increase of pH, with a sharp decrease at pH 5?C6. From Co sorption experiment in a ternary system of Co, birnessite, and HA, the presence of HA enhanced Co adsorption at pH below 6.5 and reduced the Co sorption at the intermediate and high pH.     

A simple spectrophotometric determination of endosulfan in river water and soil

Summary A simple spectrophotometric determination of endosulfan (Thiodan), a sulphur containing pesticide is described. The method is based on the liberation of sulphur dioxide from endosulfan which is subsequently absorbed into an absorbing reagent, malonyldihydrazide and estimated by using p-aminoazobenzene and formaldehyde to give a pink coloured dye which has an absorbance maxima at 505 nm. The Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 1–6 ppm for a standard solution of endosulfan. The method can be easily applied in river water and soil samples to determine endosulfan levels as low as 0.05 ppm and 0.25 ppm in river water and soil, respectively. The method is free from the interference of most of the commonly used pesticides and foreign ions.     

Measuring and modeling the transport of fission products in unsaturated prairie soil

Summary In 1951, 6.7 liters of an aqueous acidic solution of irradiated uranium (360 GBq) leaked from a buried storage tank into unsaturated prairie soil, where it has remained, undisturbed. In October 2001, sonic drilling was conducted to recover core samples around and below the tank location. This paper describes the measurements and investigative approaches being pursued to determine the transport properties of the various fission and daughter products and actinides. Separate effects laboratory experiments are also being conducted involving both inert and radioactive samples in similar soil, to examine the effects on transport properties (diffusion and sorption) of temperature, recharge and discharge rates, concentration and soil porosity. Finally, transport modeling approaches are discussed.     

Determination of gallium in soil by slurry-sampling graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry

A graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometric method, utilizing ultrasonic slurry-sampling has been developed for the determination of Ga in soils. Calibration with aqueous standards and with slurries prepared from a certified soil reference material were both employed. When calibration with soil slurries was used no modifier was needed. Because lower and more variable sensitivity was obtained for Ga in aqueous standards than for Ga in slurry soil samples, external calibration with aqueous Ga standards required a suitable chemical modifier to level out the sensitivity difference. Of the many potential modifiers tested, i.e. Al, As, Co, Mg, Mo, Ni, Pd, Pd+Mg, Se, and Te, Ni was found to be best. When Ni (1.0 mg mL(-1), 10 micro L) was injected to the graphite tube with the aqueous standards or slurry samples (10 micro L) accurate results were obtained. Both methods of calibration gave acceptable accuracy and precision. The repeatability was 相似文献   

ICP-MS法测定土壤中有效态砷的研究

分别以等离子体质谱法和原子荧光法,测定了国标土壤样品中有效态砷的含量,研究了两种方法的准确度;对等离子体质谱测定方法做消除基体干扰的对比研究。两种方法的测定值均在土壤样中有效砷的允许误差范围内,ICP-MS法的检出限为2.8 ng/g,精密度(RSD)在10％以下,符合分析测定要求。     

Comparison of mild extraction procedures for determination of plant-available arsenic compounds in soil

In this work three mild extraction agents for determination of plant-available fractions of elements in soil were evaluated for arsenic speciation in soil samples. Pepper (Capsicum annum, L.) var. California Wonder was cultivated in pots, and aqueous solutions of arsenite, arsenate, methylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid, at a concentration of 15 mg As kg^–1 soil, were added at the beginning of the experiment. Control pots (untreated) were also included. Deionized water, 0.01 mol L^–1 CaCl₂, and 0.05 mol L^–1 (NH₄)₂SO₄ were used to extract the plant-available fraction of the arsenic compounds in soil samples collected during the vegetation period of the plants. Whereas in control samples the extractable arsenic fraction did not exceed 1% of total arsenic content, soil amendment by arsenic compounds resulted in extraction of larger amounts, which varied between 1.4 and 8.1% of total arsenic content, depending on soil treatment and on the extracting agent applied. Among arsenic compounds determined by HPLC–ICPMS arsenate was predominant, followed by small amounts of arsenite, methylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid, depending on the individual soil treatment. In all the experiments in which methylarsonic acid was added to the soil methylarsonous acid was detected in the extracts, suggesting that the soil bacteria are capable of reducing methylarsonic acid before a further methylation occurs. No significant differences were observed between analytical data obtained by using different extraction procedures.