Determination of vanadium species in sediment, mussel and fish muscle tissue samples by liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Vanadium is introduced into the environment during the extraction of petrochemical products and in the production of steels and insecticides. In this study, a liquid chromatographic method for the separation of V(IV) and V(V) as ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid (EDTA) complexes was developed using reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry detection. A C-8 reversed-phase column, 15 cm long, was used to separate the species. A solution containing ammonium acetate 0.06 M, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide 10 mM, ammonium di-phosphate 10 mM and EDTA 2.5 mM at pH 6 was used as the mobile phase in order to avoid the use of organic solvents that reduce the sensitivity of the determination. To prevent changes in distribution of the vanadium species, samples should be prepared freshly. The method developed was applied to the study the vanadium speciation in sediment, mussel and fish muscle samples collected from Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. The concentration ranges of V(IV) and V(V) in sediment samples were 0.7–61 and 1.4–2.3 μg g−1, respectively. The method is simple and has adequate sensitivity for these practical applications