published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The area of study for this project was the development of an accurate, reliable, and inexpensive method of trace analysis for copper, cadmium, and lead in foods. AT this time, the Association of Official Analytical Chemists Manual, eleventh edition, (4) has only official and recognized methods of analysis for copper (25.023), cadmium (25.018), and lead (25.041). In general, these procedures are long and tedious. The digestions involved often require many hours and are quite dangerous due to leakage of metallic and organometallic fumes from the digestion apparatus. The official methods of analysis for these elements require a very large outlay of money for special equipment and reagents. It was the purpose of this project to determine the following: (A) The feasibility of using polarographic detection for copper, cadmium, and lead in trace amounts.; (B) Fina da new method of sample decomposition to replace the present digestion methods.; (C) Study the selection media prior to polarographic detection.; (D) Develop a method of simultaneous polarographic detection of copper, cadmium, and lead.

No description available.

The health of the northern hardwood forest in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia has recently gained attention from the media and environmental stakeholders. This project was designed to examine concentrations of metals, including lead, aluminum, and calcium in growth rings of an important northern hardwood species, American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) at Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain, Virginia. Dominant and codominant trees were sampled from sixteen research plots located at two different elevations. Samples were crossdated, divided into sections of ten-year periods, and analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Concentrations of metals were negatively correlated with ring width. Elevation and aspect were significantly associated with the concentration of the cations analyzed. Both lead and calcium concentrations increased during the 1860s and again during the mid-1900s. This increase in lead and calcium may suggest the mobilization of these elements in soil.