Schemes for the determination of physico-chemical speciation

A wide range of analytical techniques has been used to investigate the speciation of lead in different waters [31]. Although it is possible to separate and discriminate between different physico-chemical forms of a metal, it is not possible to identify specific forms with any degree of certainty. They can only be described in terms of their association with different operational components of the analysis. Hence, for example, filtration can be used to distinguish different groupings of species along the lines of Fig. 3.5. 

A number of speciation schemes have been devised whereby a range of analytical techniques is applied to a single sample in order to provide as much information as possible about the different species. The first reasonably comprehensive scheme was developed by Batley and Florence [32]. The scheme has been applied mainly to the speciation of metals in sea water. The broad conclusion of their studies is that lead is associated largely with colloidal inorganic particles [33]. 

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