A three stage sequential leaching scheme for the characterisation of the sources and environmental mobility of trace metals in the marine aerosol

A technique is described for the determination of the solid state speciation of trace metals in filter‐collected samples of marine aerosols. It involves a three‐stage sequential leaching procedure designed to establish the partitioning of the metals between loosely‐held ('environmentally mobile') and refractory ('environmentally immobile') associations, with an additional stage for carbonate and oxide associations. The data obtained provides information on the sources of the metals, and on their potential mobility following the deposition of the aerosols to the sea surface.