Copper and nickel in ultrafiltered brackish water : Labile or non-labile?

• Copper and nickel were sampled at three stations in the Baltic Sea using diffusive gradients in thin film (DGT) passive samplers and ultrafiltration (<1 kDa). Two versions of DGT devices were used, the normal open pore (OP) and a restricted pore (RP). The OP DGT and RP DGT concentrations closely followed each other both in depth profiles and time series. The lack of significant difference between OP and RP DGT suggests that the labile complexes were smaller than the pore size of the RP gel (approximately 1 nm). These data, together with OP DGT measurements at the same location in two different years, clearly demonstrate that the DGT method is robust and indicates reproducible results during routine field conditions. Between 50 and 80% of the ultrafiltered fractions for Ni and Cu could not be detected by the DGT method, using standard procedures. This suggests the presence of complexing ligands for Cu and Ni. Assuming 100% complexation of Ni to fulvic acid ligand gave DGT concentrations similar to ultrafiltered Ni concentrations. The equivalent calculation for Cu indicates that up to 75% of the ultrafiltered Cu fraction is non-labile. The non-labile Cu complexes are proposed to be produced at sea since the fraction increases with decreasing terrestrial influence. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

DGT

Diffusive gradients in thin films

Open pore

Restricted pore

Ultrafiltration

Trace metal speciation

Cu

Ni

The Baltic Sea

Applied Geology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)