Alin TUDORACHE¹ & Constantin MARIN^1
1“Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology of the Romanian Academy, Calea 13 Septembrie 13, 050711, Bucharest, Romania, E-mail: alin.tudorache@iser.ro

ASSESSING THE HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF SUSPENDED PARTICULATE MATTER AND OF GROUNDWATER OCCURRING IN THE AREA OF THE FUTURE WEAK– AND – MEDIUM RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY SALIGNY – ROMANIA

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By means of atomic absorption spectrometry with atomization in flame and in graphite oven, the concentration of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb) has been determined in suspended particulate matter and in groundwater occurring in the area of the future weak- and medium-radioactive waste repository at Saligny-Romania. Experimental results have shown that for certain heavy metals (for instance Zn and Ni), which in the dissolved phase occurred in concentrations that ranged close to, or below the detection limit of the utilized methods, quantitative determinations could be nonetheless obtained for the corresponding contents in the suspended particulate matter (for Zn: 611.7-40527.7 ppb and for Ni: 80.7-3053.7 ppb). It was thus outlined the important part that the suspended particulate matter played in the pollutants transfer in natural aqueous environments.