Vanadium in Italian waters: monitoring and speciation of V(IV) and V(V)

In this work, a highly sensitive method was developed to separate vanadium (IV) from vanadium (V), which are both contained in water at trace levels. A suitable strong anionic exchange column (SAX) loaded with disodium ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (Na₂EDTA) was used to trap both vanadium species dissolved in 10–100 ml of water at pH 3. The vanadyl ion was selectively eluted by means of 15 ml of an aqueous solution containing Na₂EDTA, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA⁺OH⁻), and isopropanol (ⁱPr-OH) and was subsequently determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy with electrothermal atomization. The concentration of vanadate ion was calculated by subtracting the vanadyl concentration from the total concentration of vanadium. The optimal conditions for a selective elution were evaluated. The recovery of vanadium (IV) was 95% or better. The proposed method provides a simple procedure for the speciation of vanadium in aqueous matrices. The collection of the two forms could easily be carried out at the sampling site. Therefore, the risk of changing the concentration ratio between vanadium species was widely reduced. The detection limits were 1 μg/l for both species, when a 10-ml sample was eluted through the column. The method was applied successfully to vanadium speciation on different kinds of Italian volcanic water: Mount Etna (Sicily), Lake Bracciano and Castelli Romani (Latium).