Speciation of Metals in Soils

Our studies have centred around the speciation of cadmium and manganese in three soils, one of which has been amended with sewage sludge. We report here some of our preliminary results, obtained by a coupled high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS) technique. The results indicate that cadmium may exist in different forms in soil, but only one form in soil-pore waters. Manganese is present in different soil-pore waters in different forms. The presence of sewage sludge in the soil can also affect the quantity and form of metals in water extracts.