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Methods for Speciation of Metals in Soils
Author(s) -
D'Amore J. J.,
AlAbed S. R.,
Scheckel K. G.,
Ryan J. A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2004.0014
Subject(s) - biochemical engineering , genetic algorithm , heavy metals , earth science , environmental science , environmental chemistry , environmental planning , computer science , engineering , chemistry , ecology , geology , biology
The inability to determine metal species in soils hampers efforts to understand the mobility, bioavailability, and fate of contaminant metals in environmental systems, to assess health risks posed by them, and to develop methods to remediate metal contaminated sites. Fortunately, great strides have been made in the development of methods of species characterization and in their application to the analysis of particulates and mixtures of solid phases in physics, analytical chemistry, and materials science. This manuscript highlights a selection of the analytical methods available today offering the greatest promise, briefly describes the fundamental processes involved, examines their limitations, points to how they have been used in the environmental and geochemical literature, and offers some suggested research directions in the hope of stimulating further investigation into the application of these powerful tools to the problems outlined above.