Determination of trace metal complexes by natural organic and inorganic ligands in coastal seawater

It is well-documented that organic compounds form strong complexes with most metals in aquatic systems, and that seawater is a complex medium which contains a large variety of organic and inorganic ligands, including colloidal matter. We suggest that most trace metals are complexed in seawater and that some inorganic metals complexes are either labile or not stable. In contrast, metal-organic complexes are often stable and need various and specific treatments to be dissociated. In this paper we try to illustrate a good tendency of some trace metals to be complexed by organic ligands in seawater. A solid-phase extraction method was applied using a C18 column as a resin that is able to separate metals complexed by neutral organic ligands, and the chelamine resin to separate metal species that are present as labile inorganic complexes. The determination of total dissolved metal concentrations was achieved by formatting a metal-8-hydroxyquinoline complex, followed by adsorption on C18 columns and ICP-AES analysis.