A study of the chemical forms or species of manganese found in coal fly ash and soil

The chemical speciation of manganese of environmental and toxicological interest was undertaken in coal fly ash and soil. Hard coal used in combustion creates considerable quantities of waste ash. The greatest quantities of industrial ashes are stored in the form of waste-heaps, which create a serious problem as the source of inorganic pollution. It is necessary to identify physical and chemical properties of ash, especially when analyzing the pollution of soil by trace metals, which are potentially mobile in environment. In this work, a new analytical method has been developed and used successfully for identification and determination of chemical forms of manganese in coal fly ash and soil. The basic chemical forms of metals contained in the environmental samples (fly ash and soil) can be described by using sequential extraction method. To identify Mn ions, the UV–VIS spectrophotometric method was used by means of comparative analysis of spectrophotometric spectra of appropriate Mn ions in the standard solutions and solutions obtained after extraction. The concentration of manganese in all solutions was determined by the Flame Atomic Absorption method. The experimental approach and analytical method developed in this study appear adequate for this purpose and can therefore be used for similar research.