Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

By means of atomic absorption spectrometry with atomization in flame and in graphite oven, the concentration of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb) has been determined in suspended particulate matter and in groundwater occurring in the area of the future weak- and medium-radioactive waste repository at Saligny-Romania. Experimental results have shown that for certain heavy metals (for instance Zn and Ni), which in the dissolved phase occurred in concentrations that ranged close to, or below the detection limit of the utilized methods, quantitative determinations could be nonetheless obtained for the corresponding contents in the suspended particulate matter (for Zn: 611.7-40527.7 ppb and for Ni: 80.7-3053.7 ppb). It was thus outlined the important part that the suspended particulate matter played in the pollutants transfer in natural aqueous environments.