Evaluation of Decomposition Procedure to Determine Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn, V, and Zn Total Content in Soil Samples

Abstract

Different procedures have been proposed to decompose soil samples. Most of them regard determination with fertility aims. In this case, the contents available to the plants are considered. On the other hand, there are procedures to determine total content. The objective of this work was to propose a new decomposition procedure to determine barium (Ba), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) total content in tropical soils with high content of oxides and silicate. According to the results, the digestion procedure proposed in this study provided satisfactory results for the contents recovery for the elements Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, V, and Zn, above 90%, and the use of inverted aqua regia, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydrofluoric acid (HF), pre-digestions and agitation was shown as a new alternative for the high silicate content soil sample total digestion, such as the oxisols.

Keywords:

• Oxisols
• soil total digestion
• silicate

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) - Pecuária Sudeste for the infrastructure. The authors are also grateful to Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita (UNESP) - Câmpus Jaboticabal for conducting the field experiment and supplying the soil samples.