Research Applications
PRS® Probes have been used to monitor the bio-availability of heavy metals in soils.
Examples
- Development of resin membranes as a sensitive indicator of heavy metal toxicity in the soil environment. Liang and Schoenau (1995) developed a procedure to assess the bioavailability of four heavy metals Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb and related it to phytotoxic levels of oats, radish and lettuce in a growth chamber experiment.
- Speciation in metal contaminated soils as revealed by an ion exchange resin membrane fractionation procedure. Liang and Schoenau (1996) evaluated the speciation of labile metals in polluted soils by equilibrating soil suspensions with ion exchange resin membranes of different types at pH values ranging from 3 to 9.
- Conder, J.M., R.P. Lanno, and N.T. Basta. 2001. Assessment of metal availability in smelter soil using earthworms and chemical extractions. Condor et al. (2001) found that heavy metal ecotoxicity to earthworms was not well related with PRS® probe measurements, reflecting the different factors influencing bio-availability for soil invertebrates than plants.