The Determination of Nitrate and Phosphate in Aqueous Extract of Soil Samples by Ion Chromatography

Emily Mellott

Introduction

Soil-a dynamic and complex system of minerals, air, water and organic matter- is the lifeblood of anyones farm and of everyones food supply. (Food & Nutrition)

Primary Nutrients used by Plants

Nitrogen
Functional part of chlorophyll and essential in the formation of amino acids and proteins

Phosphorus
Essential in energy transfer, photosynthesis, respiration, and cell division

Potassium
Required for the synthesis of carbohydrates and proteins

Nitrate and Phosphate

Nitrogen: NO3- and NH4+ Phosphorus: PO43-, HPO42-, and H2PO4-

Ion Chromatography
a widely used method for determining inorganic anions in environmental samples ion chromatography can analyze multiple anions at once shown to give the same results as other wet chemistry methods in the determination of common anions

Compost

Reduces trash and enriches soil

Goal

To assess the content of nitrogen available as NO3- and the content of phosphorous available as PO43- by ion chromatography in a sample of soil from a garden that had not received compost and a sample of soil that had been exposed to compost. To discover whether the nitrogen and phosphorous available in these forms and determined by this method was greater in the compost sample than in the regular soil sample.

Experimental Methods

Gathering sample

Drying Soil

approximately 100C for 2 hours.

Standards

From a 100 ppm, standards of 0,1, 4, 20, and 40 ppm were prepared

Sieve

To remove small stones and large clumps of dirt

Weighing
Four 1 gram portions of the regular soil into beakers Three 1 gram portions of the compost soil into beakers

Heating and Stirring

Moderate heat for 1 hour

Filtering

Regular Soil Chromatograph

Phosphate Nitrate

Calibration Curves

Results
Nitrate Concentration (mg/L) 1 Regular 2 Regular 3 Regular 4 Regular* 1 Compost 2 Compost 3 Compost Phosphate Concentration (mg/L) 1 Regular 2 Regular 3 Regular 4 Regular* 1 Compost 2 Compost 3 Compost 0.9134 0.8779 0.8114 1.745 2.539 2.697 2.793 1.699 1.328 1.126 2.740 4.800 4.706 4.917 Area S*min Retention Time (min) 0.09570 0.05670 0.03550 0.2053 0.4220 0.4121 0.4343 8.690 8.701 8.690 8.690 8.674 8.647 8.677

Area S*min Retention Time (min) 0.02300 14.010 0.02070 14.024 0.01640 14.030 0.07680 14.007 0.1282 13.977 0.1384 13.977 0.1446 13.974

Results
Nitrate Regular (mg Nitrate/g sample) 1 0.1669 Compost (mg Nitrate/g sample) 0.4717

2
3 Average Std. Dev. RSD 95 % CI Phosphate Regular (mg Phosphate/g sample) 1 2 3 Average Std. Dev. RSD 95 % CI

0.1293
0.1113 0.1358 0.02836 20.88 0.06534 to 0.2063

0.4582
0.4860 0.4720 0.01394 2.954 0.4374 to 0.5066

Compost (mg Phosphate/g sample) 0.08709 0.08636 0.07336 0.08227 0.2421 0.2653 0.2525 0.2533 0.01163 4.593 0.2244 to 0.2822

0.007725 9.390 0.06308 to 0.1015

Conclusion

These results demonstrate that as far as can be determined from this method, the compost does serve to increase the available content of nitrate and phosphate in the soil.

References
(1) Schmidt, J. Healthy Soils, Healthy Foods. Food & Nutrition, March/April 2013, pp. 1213. (2) Jackson, P.E. Ion Chromatography in Environmental Analysis. In Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry; Meyers, R. A., Ed.; Wiley: Chichester, 2000; p 2779-2801. (3) He, Z.; Yang, X.; Kahn, B. A.; Stofella, P. J.; Calvert, D. V. Plant Nutrition Benefits of Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Micronutrients from Compost Utilization. In Compost Utilization in Horticultural Cropping Systems; Stofella, P.J.; Kahn, B.A., Eds; CRC Press LLC: Boca Raton, 2001; Ch. 15, pp. 307-317.