Analysis of Macro and Micronutrients in Soils from Palestine Using Ion Exchange Membrane Technology

Ion Exchange membrane technology (IEM) is a method that allowed a single extraction process and a single subsequent measurement of different elements that are available in soil. The values of the available forms of the different macro- and micronutrients obtained by IEM extraction were compared with the values of the soluble form obtained by conventional extraction methods. In surface soil sample, the concentrations of available potassium, nitrate, phosphate, iron and boron were 37.7 mg kg–1, 17.5 mg kg–1, 3.6 mg kg–1, 171.0 μg kg–1, and 4.2 μg kg–1 respectively were greater than that of soluble forms of the same elements which were 7.0 mg kg–1, 9.2 mg kg–1, 0.4 mg kg–1, 109.0 μg kg–1, and 1.9 μg kg–1 respectively.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Fluoride in Groundwater Using Resorcin Blue Complexes

New simple and sensitive spectrophotometric determination of fluoride in drinking groundwater has been developed using aluminium-resorcin blue complex. The method is based on the reaction of fluoride with the coloured complex to produce colourless aluminium fluoride complex and releasing of the free ligand. The relationship of the reaction of flu-oride with the complex is sixth-order polynomial function. The reaction reaches equilibrium at fluoride concentration of 0.054 mM. The equilibrium constant (Keq) was calculated as 1.12 × 1014. Beer-Lambert law is obeyed in the range 0.0 - 0.024 mM of fluoride (0.0 - 1.0 mg·L-1). The molar absorptivity at 502 nm is 6.45 × 103 L·mol-1·cm-1. Fluoride concentration higher than 1.0 mg·L-1 can be measured after proper dilution. The sensitivity, detection limit, quantitation limit, and the percentage recovery of 0.75 mg·L-1 fluoride for the method were found to be 0.357 μg·ml-1., 0.07 mg·L-1, 0.2 mg·L-1, and 101.1 respectively.

Determination of Inorganic Antimony Species Conversions during Its Speciation Analysis in Soil Using Isotope Dilution Techniques

A new method was developed in this work to account for inorganic Sb species interconversion during soil sample preparation and subsequent separation steps. The Sb(III) and Sb(V) concentrations at each investigated step in the analytical procedure were determined using species specific spikes (121Sb(III) with 81.18% and 123Sb(V) with 74.04% enrichment). The spiking of these enriched isotopes species solutions was done separately before soil sample extraction and before HPLC separation. Simply by subtracting the final concentration of each species done by on-line isotope dilution (ID) from its concentration at different stages of the analytical procedure done by species specific ID, the influence of each step on species transformation can be estimated. After optimization, the extraction procedure for inorganic Sb species 6% Sb(III) (1.3 RSD, n = 3) and 43.2% Sb(V) (2.9% RSD, n = 3) as percent of total Sb were detected in the examined soil sample using online ID. Using the above described methodology we found that there was no reduction of Sb(V) to Sb(III) during sample preparation or species separation. While about 9.3% of extractable Sb (4.6% of total) was converted from Sb(III) to Sb(V) during the extraction step, no conversion during HPLC separation step was observed. By compensating for Sb(III) transformation during the sample preparation step;the extractable Sb(III) and Sb(V) as percent of total Sb yielded 10.6% and 38.7%, respectively.

Effect of Irrigation with Sea Water on Germination and Growth of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medic)

In an attempt to evaluate the efficiency of sea water irrigation on plant growth and germination, five cultivars of lentil ILL4400, 5582, 5845, 5883 and 8006 were grown in sandy soil and irrigated with sea water of different salinity levels (Ec 0.9-12). Percent of germination, seedlings lengths and mean germination time were recorded. The results showed that all cultivars were able to germinate at different salinity levels. The germination percent was increased. The percent of seed germination was significantly higher in cultivars ILL8006 and ILL5883. Sea water of salinities Ec3 and Ec6 was ideal for irrigation without negative impacts on lentil germination and growth. At higher salinity (Ec12) the germination rate was reduced and the mean germination time was greater than that in lentil seeds irrigated with sea water of Ec 0.9-9.

Using Nonconventional Water in Irrigation of Olive Trees and Its Effect on Olive Oil Properties

The response of olive orchard with same age and type to irrigation with treated municipal wastewater and freshwater was investigated in three years. Physical and chemical properties of the treated municipal wastewater reuse in agriculture (the effluent) produced by the Sheikh Ejleen wastewater treatment plant in Gaza Strip, freshwater, soil, and olive oil were determined and compared with Palestinian and international standards. The biological oxygen?demand (BOD) of Sheikh Ejleen effluent is 60 mg·l-1, which indicates low quality effluent. The results indicate that most of olive oil quality parameters—including heavy metals and trace elements for both fruits irrigated with treated wastewater or irrigated with freshwater—fall within the acceptable standard limit values. Moreover, soil analysis shows that organic content and cation exchange capacity were improved in soil irrigated with treated wastewater in comparison with that irrigated with freshwater. The results also show that there is no trace elements or heavy metals accumulation in soil.