A grant has been awarded to Dr. Pauline Lindo at Alabama A&M University towards the purchase of an ICP-MS instrument for conducting environmental research and training in the Dept. of Plant and Soil Science. The Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma-Mass Spectrophotometer (ICP-MS) is extremely useful in quantifying trace concentrations (ppb, ppt) of heavy metals in various media and will be used to identify and quantify the various species jeopardizing environmental quality, human and animal health, any seasonal peaks of these species, and to issue health alerts to the general public based on models to be developed from the research data generated. The research will include cropping of contaminated soils to a number of hyperaccumulators, plants capable of extracting large quantities of soil heavy metals. At specific intervals, soil and percolating water will be sampled at 6 depths to monitor/track movement of heavy metals to groundwater supplies. Runoff water will be sampled almost immediately after each storm event and tested for transported heavy metals and species - sources of contamination for surface water. Runoff samples will be evaluated for sediment content, to determine the transport rate of heavy metals (in adsorbed, exchangeable, or soluble state) across the soil surface. All soil, water, and plant tissue samples will be analyzed for metals and species. Uptake by plants will be correlated with reductions in soil concentrations, to calculate a remediation rate for these soils by various plant species. This project will be repeated in the fall and winter to evaluate seasonal effects on heavy metal loadings and speciation, so that a model can be developed to predict toxicity levels in soil, plant, and water as affected by seasonal variability. Since sorption of metals from aqueous solution onto solid surfaces is an important process that influences accumulation and transport in the environment, fate and transport studies will include kinetics and mechanisms of heavy metal retention/release on soil mineral clay surfaces as affected by inorganic anions. The data generated from this study will assist in designing practical and economical remediation strategies to effectively clean up toxic heavy metal-contaminated sites. Measurement of heavy metal species is necessary to determine adsorption/desorption mechanism(s), and the instrument will be indispensable for this purpose.
The instrument will offer research training and development of research skills to faculty, staff, and minority students at the BS, MS, and PhD levels through summer programs and internships (for BS students), and research projects (MS and PhD students). This study will offer minority students (many of them female), the future scientists, the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop the skills they need to launch their careers. This instrument will also be used for teaching several curriculum courses at Alabama A&M University as an integral part of training. Collaborators from nearby colleges will have access to this instrument primarily for faculty and graduate student research and training.
