Evaluation of As and Sb Mobility in Contaminated Stream Sediments

Single and sequential extraction procedures were applied to four sediment samples collected from an industrially polluted region of Eastern Slovakia. A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) for sediments recommended by the IRMM (Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements) – was applied and used as a reference extraction method. Single-step extraction (for soils) with 0.05 mol L⁻¹ ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was slightly modified for this study of sediments. The removal ability of “Na₂EDTA extraction” was compared with the SEP recommended by the IRMM. After optimisation, the elements’ contents extracted into Na₂EDTA were in good agreement with the sum of the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th step of SEP for As and Sb. Therefore Na₂EDTA extraction can serve as a supplementary test to the SEP recommended by the IRMM (under locally tested conditions). Alternatively, optimised extraction of sediments in chelating agents could be applied as an economically interesting and time-saving supplementary test to routinely used SEPs. This paper describes the sample preparation and the analytical results for each extraction step and compares the results with those of total element analyses (performed by an independent method) for As and Sb.