Determination of Ethylenediaminedisuccinic Acid in Soils and Plants Using Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) can be used in chelate enhanced phytoremediation or leaching of heavy metal-contaminated soils. The existing methods have no good detection limits or complex processes. This study describes the development of a novel method for determining EDDS in soil and plants at low concentrations by HPLC. After short sample pre-treatment, the samples extracted by supersonic and derived with copper sulphate were analyzed using reversed phase liquid chromatography. The mobile phase is 0.03 M acetate-acetic acid buffer of pH 4.0 with counter ion. Ultraviolet absorbance detection is set at 254 nm. The method is simple and have a low limit of detection (1.5 μM). The correlation coefficient exceeds 0.99 and the recovery efficiency is ranging from 93% to 118 %. The method was reliable and interferences from other metal ions were eliminated.