Speciation analysis of plants in the determination of V(V) by ETAAS

Vanadium(IV) and vanadium(V) were easily separated from each other in the same plant sample and be determined independently by ETAAS (electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry). This was achieved by treating the sample with 1 M (NH4)2HPO4 which transfer only insoluble V(V) species into solution leaving V(IV) species in the solid part of the sample solution. V(IV) was then transferred into solution by ashing the precipitates and dissolving them in dilute acid. Statistical evaluations indicate that the sum of the concentrations of V(IV) and V(V) species is the same as the total concentration of vanadium determined by an independent method from the same plant sample at 95% level of confidence. ximum concentrations for V(V) and total vanadium in plants around the vanadium mine were found to be 24.3 and 350 μg g−1, respectively.