Evaluation of humic complexes of trace metals in river water by adsorption on indium-treated XAD-2 resin and DEAE-Sephadex A-25 anion exchanger

A combined adsorption procedure for the analytical fractionation of humic/metal complexes in river water is described. It is based on an indium-loaded XAD-2 resin and a DEAE-Sephadex A-25 anion exchanger, respectively. After the separation of suspended particles, an aliquot of the water sample to be analysed is passed through an indium-loaded XAD-2 resin column to collect the metal-humic complexes. A second aliquot is directly passed through a DEAE-Sephadex A-25 anion exchanger column to collect humic complexes and other negatively charged metal species. Both column effluents are analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry or by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry for various trace metals (e.g., Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ba). According to this fractionation procedure, significant amounts of iron, aluminium and copper in river water are found to be humic complexes, and less than 15% of nickel, cobalt and zinc are complexed with humic substances. Manganese, strontium and barium are hardly associated with humic substances.