On the Determination of Cr(VI) in Cr(III)-Rich Particulates: From the Failure of Official Methods to the Development of an Alternative Protocol

Andrea Spinazzè (), Davide Spanu, Pietro Della Bella, Cristina Corti, Francesca Borghi, Giacomo Fanti, Andrea Cattaneo, William Robert Wise, Stefan John Davis, Domenico Maria Cavallo and Sandro Recchia ()
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Andrea Spinazzè: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Davide Spanu: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Pietro Della Bella: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Cristina Corti: Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche ed Applicate, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Dunant, 3, 21100 Varese, Italy
Francesca Borghi: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Giacomo Fanti: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Andrea Cattaneo: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
William Robert Wise: Institute for Creative Leather Technologies, University of Northampton, University Drive, Northampton NN1 5PH, UK
Stefan John Davis: Institute for Creative Leather Technologies, University of Northampton, University Drive, Northampton NN1 5PH, UK
Domenico Maria Cavallo: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy
Sandro Recchia: Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: The goals of this work are the evaluation of the performances of official methods in the challenging determination of Cr(VI) in Cr(III)-rich particulate matter, and the development of a novel and robust analytical protocol for this issue. A liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry apparatus (LC-ICP-MS), together with an isotope-enriched spike addition technique, was used to allow the study of Cr(III)/Cr(VI) interconversions during the extraction step. An original separation strategy based on Cr(OH) 3 head-column stacking was developed to tolerate high concentrations of Cr(III) (up to 10 mg/kg, with a Cr(VI) limit of detection of 0.51 µg/kg) without the need of any sample pretreatment. After observing, the official extraction protocols always yield false positive values in the challenging situation of particulate matter of leather industries (where huge amounts of Cr(III) are present), a new extraction strategy was developed. The novel procedure involves a 48-h extraction at room temperature using a pH-8 phosphate buffer, which demonstrated that no Cr(III)/Cr(VI) interconversions occur during this phase. To get rid of any possible interference caused by co-extracted substances, the measurement of the redox potential, together with the addition of a Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox buffer was performed to fix chromium speciation during the overall analytical protocol.

Keywords: chromium (VI) exposure evaluation; particulate matter; chromium speciation; ion chromatography; ICP-MS; isotope spiking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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