THE STUDY OF HEAVY METAL FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES BY ATOMIC TECHNIQUES

Abstract

Using the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXRF) techniques we analyzed the contents of heavy metals ( Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Ti, Sr, Co, Bi) from eight wild mushrooms and soil substrate samples (48 samples of eight fungal species and 32 underlying soil samples), collected from ten forest sites of Dambovița County Romania. It was determined that the elements, especially heavy metals, in soil were characteristic of the acidic soils of the Romanian forest lands and are influenced by industrial pollution. Analytical possibilities of AAS and EDXRF analytical techniques have been compared and the heavy metal transfer from substrate to mushrooms has been studied. The coefficient of accumulation of essential and heavy metals has been calculated as well. Heavy metal contents of all analyzed mushrooms were generally higher than previously reported in literature.

Keywords

• EDXRF
• FAAS
• essential element
• heavy metal
• wild mushroom
• soil pollution