Chemia analityczna w badaniu i ochronie środowiska

The main goal of studies carried in our reasearch group – analytical chemistry in investigation and protection of the environment is the evaluation of the impact of human activity on environmental pollution, and creation of analytical procedures that can be applied in environmental analysis. Detailed description of our research can be found on webpage http://www.chem.uw.edu.pl/labs/pcas. In this paper we would like to present only a few topics and analytical challenges that we were dealing with during the last years. The application of anodic and cathodic stripping voltammetry for trace analysis of hazardous metals (cadmium, lead, thallium, platinum, rhodium) in natural samples is described [4–6]. Voltammetry is also presented as a tool used in speciation analysis, which is particularly important in the case of elements which toxicity and assimilation depends on chemical form of the element that is present in the environment (e.g. As) [8]. Attention is also paid to fractionation, which is a specific case of speciation analysis, extremely important for evaluation of mobility and bioavailability of harmful or nutritious substances from soil. As environmental monitoring often requires carrying measurements at trace levels, it might be necessary to preconcentrate the analytes or simplify the composition of the sample before the analysis. For such purposes solid phase extraction (SPE) is widely used and frequently applied. Another analytical task presented in this work is recognition of the defense mechanisms developed by hyperaccumulating plants, e.g. white mustard. This species was investigated for synthesis of phytochelatins – sulphur-rich polipeptides induced by high concentrations of As, Tl, Cd, Pt, Pd and Rh [14]. It is worth noting that plant species that are able to cumulate high amounts of xenobiotics can be used for phytoremediation, which is one of so called “green technologies”, used for restitution of polluted environment, particularly soil [19].