Determination of Nutrient

Availability and Elemental Toxicity

by AB-DTPA Soil Test and ICPS
P.N. Soltanpour

I. Introduction 165
II. Theoretical Principles of the Ammonium Bicarbonate-DTPA
(AB-DTPA) Soil Test 166
III. Theoretical Principles of Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical
Emission Spectrometry (ICPS) 168
A. Principles ofICP Generation 168
B. Properties ofICP 170
C. Sample Introduction Systems 171
D. Spectrometers 172
IV. Elements Extracted with Ammonium Bicarbonate-DTPA .. . . . 174
A. Plant Nutrients 174
B. Other Elements 181
V. Analysis of Ammonium Bicarbonate-DTPA Extracts Using In-
ductively Coupled Plasma Spectometry 183
VI. Interpretation of Results 185
VII. Conclusions 187
References 187

I. Introduction

The ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)

(AB-DTPA) soil test was developed by Soltanpour and Schwab (1977) to
extract simultaneously labile N03 -N, P, K, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu from neutral
and calcareous soils. Later, it was used for extraction of potentially toxic
elements from soils and mine spoils and soils treated with sewage sludge. The
list of elements whose bioavailability can be determined with AB-DTPA also
include Pb, Cd, Ni, Se, As, B, Mo, and S. To use the AB-DTPA test more
efficiently one can use an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometer. An
© \99\ by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Advances in Soil Science, Volume 16

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166 P.N. Soltanpour

ICP spectrometer is capable of simultaneous or sequential determination of

the above elements in the AB-DTPA extract accurately and rapidly. The use
of AB-DTPA soil test in conjunction with an ICP spectrometer enabled the
discovery of Cd, Pb, and Zn contamination in garden soil samples from some
Colorado mountain communities during a routine soil fertility test. The metal
contamination originated from old mine spoils. As a result of this discovery
and further testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
Colorado Department of Public Health these communities were earmarked
for cleanup by the U.S. Government.
In this chapter, I elucidate the ability of the AB-DTPA-ICP system for
determining soil fertility indexes and for screening soils contaminated with
sewage sludge, mine spoil, and other materials for their potential elemental
toxicity to plants, animals, and humans.

II. Theoretical Principles of the Ammonium Bicarbonate-DTPA

(AB-DTPA) Soil Test
The AB-DTPA solution is 1 M NH 4 HC0 3 and 0.005 M DTPA. It has an
initial pH of7.6. Ten grams of soil are mixed with 20ml of AB-DTPA solution
and shaken for 15 min in an open flask (Tables 1 and 2). The NH.t replaces
K + on the exchange complex and thus gives a measure of exchangeable plus
soluble K +. One molar NH 4 0Ac is the most commonly used reagent to

Table 1. Preparation ofNH 4 HC03 -DTPA solution

1. Dissolve 1.97 g of DTPA in 800 ml of pure water.
2. Add about 2 ml of 1: 1 NH 4 0H to facilitate dissolution.
3. After DTPA is in solution, add 79.06 g ofNH 4 HC03 , and stir gently until
dissolved.
4. Adjust pH to 7.6 using either NH 4 0H or HCI.
5. Bring to a final volume of 1 L.
6. The extracting solution is unstable with regard to pH and should be made
immediately before using or kept under mineral oil.

Table 2. Extracting procedure

1. Place 10 g of soil in 250-ml Erlenmeyer flask.
2. Add 20 ml of extracting solution and shake on a reciprocating shaker at 180
cycles per minute for 15 min. The flasks are kept open.
3. Filter through a medium-speed filter paper.
4. Place 0.25 ml of concentrated HN0 3 in a lO-ml beaker. Q

5. Carefully add 2.5 ml of AB-DTPA extract or standard solution to the beaker

and mix on a rotary shaker for 15 min to eliminate carbonate species. Q

6. Analyze on ICP.
QEliminate 4 and 5 and analyze on ICP with a Legere or other high-salt rebulizers.