WWRC 94-16
Application of Partial Fractionation and Speciation Techiques for Predicting Ground Water Contamination by Soil Selenium Movement
Abstract
Selenium (Se) was partially fractionated and speciated to understand its
mobility and contamination behavior in soils of contrasting properties. Five Se fractions
were obtained by sequentially extracting the soils with 0.25 M KCl, 1 M KH2PO4, 4 N HCl,
(KClO3 + 12 N HCl) and concentrated (HNO3 + HClO4 + HF), respectively. Each fraction
was analyzed for total Seby atomic absorption spectrophotometry with hydride generation
(AAS-HG) after a digestion with 30% H202 + 12 N HCl. Solution selenite was analyzed
before this pre treatment Selenate was calculated from the difference of these two results.
The overall findings suggest selenate as the potential contaminant of ground water.
However, selenite or both Se species may be mobilized depending on soil conditions and
sources of Se.
KEY TERMS: Partial fractionation, speciation, selenite, selenate, contamination.
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