Separation and enrichment of chromium, copper, nickel and lead in surface seawater samples on a column filled with Amberlite XAD-2000

A separation/enrichment procedure has been established for atomic absorption spectrometric determination of some trace metal ions by using a column filled Amberlite XAD-2000 resin. It is based on the sorption of metal ions on XAD-2000 as 1-(2-pyridylazo) 2-naphtol (PAN) chelates. Following washing of the XAD-2000 column with blank solution, metal-chelates were eluted by 1 M nitric acid in acetone and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The influences of some analytical parameters including pH, amounts of PAN, sample volume, also effects of concomitant ions were investigated. The procedure was applied to sea water samples collected from Mersin Bay-Mediterranean Sea with satisfactory results (recoveries > 95%, relative standard deviations < 9%)