Affinity of Selected Elements to Individual Fractions of Soil Organic Matter

Abstract

The distribution of selected elements in individual fractions of organic matter from anthropogenically contaminated soils was investigated. The attention was paid especially at Hg. Furthermore, contents of S, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Pb were also measured. The decomposition of organic matter to particular fractions was carried out by the resin DAX-8. Ten soil samples were collected, and the Advanced Mercury Analyzer (AMA-254) was used for the determination of the total Hg content. The two highest Hg values reached up to the concentration 10.5 mg kg−1, and in the highest one, it was almost 29 mg kg−1. In each extract, mercury was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), for other elements, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was applied. Results of the analysis show that the Hg content bound to the humic acids is inversely proportional to the content of Mg, Mn, Fe and Cu. However, this dependence was not confirmed by the samples with the mercury content above 10 mg kg−1. In the case of fulvic acids, the relationship between Hg and S was observed and has again an inverse character.