Analysis of Metals Contained in Soil

Introduction

In Japan, the soil contamination with heavy metals etc. has been actualized and become problems recently because of the increase of the redevelopment of the vacant lots of former factory. In response to this situation, the “Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law” was proclaimed on May 29, 2002 and has been in effect since February 15, 2003. The purposes are to protect the health of citizens by comprehending the contamination levels and to prevent damage to people’s health. This law identifies nine items (such as heavy metals) that may potentially accumulate in surface soils over long periods of time at high concentrations as specific harmful substances. The law also prescribes 25 items as targets of leaching standards in the environmental quality standards for soil, which are established considering the intake of underground water. This Application News presents analysis examples of harmful metal content in soil using AA, ICP and ICP- MS, which are widely used for analyzing inorganic elements.

June 23, 2004 GMT