quantification of heavy metals

[aftabac]

Hi
i want to do heavy metal analysis of water, in a way to determine the amount of heavy metals in different water samples, for this i need your kind help in a sence that please tell me the method that is used to determine the heavy metal concentration in water.
i hope you will guide me


regards
aftab

[kiki06]

Hey Aftab,

not exactly sure. Do people do mass spectrometry for water analysis?

I looked this up and found:

Water Analysis Methods
[Only registered users see links. ]

Gravimetric methods - weighing
Electrochemical
Colorimetry or spectrophotometry
Mass Spectrometry

Not sure the exact methods

[hsip_15]

Dear Aftabac,

Maybe you have found the right info already but if I am not mistaken, you can try looking up the principles and instruments for AAS, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. It is a way to detect and quantify heavy metals in small quantities which is good for water analysis.

However, it will be a little tedious as you have to prepare standards and such.

For some other heavy metals, maybe you have to use combinations of a few methods to actually obtain the specific speciation of the heavy metals you want.