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Analyzing several chelating agents and their effect on elemental composition of Lolium perenne and two growth media by capillary zone electrophoresis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

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Abstract

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) along with ICP-OES was used for the determination of several chelating agents in clay and black soil, and in plants (Lolium perenne) grown in these matrices. Elemental levels in all the samples (Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Pb, S and Zn) were investigated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Compared to previous methods, much shorter total analysis times were accomplished by the validation of an internal standard method for CZE analysis. The solubility of elements increased noticeably in the soils treated by the chelating agents before cultivation, and this phenomenon was strictly metal complex stability constant dependent. The most persistent chelating agents were triethylenetetraaminehexaacetic acid (TTHA) and 1,3-diaminopropanetetraacetic acid (PDTA). Both agents were bound to the growth medium and taken up by ryegrass, while only small proportions of them were degraded during cultivation. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriamineacetic acid (NTA), mainly bound to the clay matrix during the 19 days cultivation, but after 40 days cultivation in black soil they were degraded to smaller acids. The results clearly show uptake of chelating agents by plants and are a clear indication of the degradation of chelating agents.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Master of Science students Anna Korpelainen and Milla Mänty for helping with the measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jyväskylä, Department of Chemistry, PO Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Pirkko-Leena Hakkarainen & Rose Matilainen

Authors
  1. Pirkko-Leena Hakkarainen
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  2. Rose Matilainen
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Correspondence to Pirkko-Leena Hakkarainen.

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Hakkarainen, PL., Matilainen, R. Analyzing several chelating agents and their effect on elemental composition of Lolium perenne and two growth media by capillary zone electrophoresis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Microchim Acta 167, 231–240 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-009-0245-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-009-0245-0

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