Separation and enrichment of chromium, copper, nickel and lead in surface seawater samples on a column filled with amberlite XAD-2000

A separation/enrichment procedure has been established for atomic absorptio n spectrometric determination of some trace metal ions by using a column fi lled Amberlite XAD-2000 resin. It is based on the sorption of metal ions on XAD-2000 as 1-(2-pyridylazo) 2-naphtol (PAN) chelates. Following washing o f the XAD-2000 column with blank solution, metal-chelates were eluted by I M nitric acid in acetone and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrom etry (FAAS). The influences of some analytical parameters including pH, amo unts of PAN, sample volume, also effects of concomitant ions were investiga ted. The procedure was applied to sea water samples collected from Mersin B ay-Mediterranean Sea with satisfactory results (recoveries > 95%, relative standard deviations < 9%).