The potential pool of Co, Ni, Cu, Pb and Cd organic complexing ligands in coastal and urban rain waters

Abstract

The detection of dissolved ACSV (adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry) Co, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb in rain waters collected from an urban and a coastal site in the northwest of England is described. The presence of metal complexing organic ligands in rain waters is indicated with an overall percentage of ACSV non - labile dissolved metal of the total dissolved metal fraction ( = %ACSV nl/t) being 33 (33); 28 (35); 26 (32); 33 (25); 27 (34): for Co, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb, respectively, for the urban site (and coastal site). ACSV metal lability is theoretically defined and is dependent upon the a-coefficient ( β′ MAL [AL]) of the added ACSV ligand (AL). No major differences were observed between %ACSV nl/t metal fractions in rain waters collected at the two contrasting sites for all the metals considered. As Cu, Pb, Cd and Ni had values greater than 10 for their Ef crust (crustal enrichment factor), rain water collected from both sites had predominantly anthropic chemical characteristics. The commonality of the aerosol chemical characteristics at the two sites may account for the observed similar (relative to total metal concentrations) proportions of metal organic complexation at the two different sites. The general order of increasing organic associations was Cu = Pb = Ni < Co < Cd, although the analytical log α-coefficients ( β′ MAL [AL]) for each metal were different (9.62—Ni; 9.27—Cu; 5.29—Co; 2.15—Pb; 1.13—Cd). Significant correlations were encountered between ACSV non - labile and total dissolved trace metal concentrations of the pooled data from both sites, again an indication of the similarity of the chemical characteristics of the scavenged soluble organic ligands associated with background aerosol material.