The Influence of the Air-Drying Pretreatment of Sediment Samples for Metallic Element Mobilities

Chemical analysis of sediments provides an efficient tool for water quality management. Ten sediment samples collected in 2008 from two locations situated in the Danube Delta Biosphere were analyzed in a comparative study of mobile metallic elements via two different pre-treatment techniques: air-drying followed by sieving and wet sieving. The experimental data proved that air-drying procedure produces drastic changes in mobility
of the metallic elements from the sediments which were studied as an effect of the oxidizing conditions. Wet sediment or oxygen-free dried sediment is recommended to be used in environmental studies regarding determination of mobile fractions from sediment samples.