Determination of zinc,cadmium, lead and copper in sea water by means of computerized potentiometric stripping analysis

Water samples from the Arctic Sea were analyzed by the potentiometric stripping technique. Lead(II) and cadmium(II) were determined after pre-electrolysis for 32 min at—1.1 V vs. Ag/AgCl, the detection limits being 0.06 and 0.04 nM, respectively. Zinc(II) was determined after the addition of gallium(III) by pre-electrolysis for 16 min at —1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl, the detection limit being 0.25 nM. Problems in the determination of copper(II) at the very low concentrations found in oceanic waters are outlined. The average zinc(II), cadmium(II) and lead(II) concentrations in eight different samples were 2.5, 0.16 and 0.10 nM as determined by potentiometric stripping analysis and 1.9, 0.16 and 0.09 nM as determined by solvent extraction/atomic absorption spectrometry. The advantages of this computerized technique for the analysis of sea water are discussed.