A review on electrochemical methods for trace metal speciation in environmental media

Abstract

Trace metal speciation is key to understand/predict bioavailability and potential toxicity of metals to biota and will, undoubtedly, be incorporated in future regulations. Electroanalytical methods have a role to play in such development: they offer a wide range of advantages such as speed, portability, economy, solid interpretation backgrounds and low limits of quantification. This review focusses on three selected stripping techniques: Competitive-Ligand Exchange - Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry (CLE-CSV), Scanned Stripping Chrono-Potentiometry (SSCP) and AGNES (Absence of Gradients and Nernstian Equilibrium Stripping) reporting their working principles, characteristics (strong and weak points) and recent applications to systems of environmental relevance (such as seawaters, freshwaters or soil extracts).

The authors from the Universitat de Lleida gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry MINECO (Project CTM2016-78798).