SSSAJ Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published in Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:1262-1267 (1980)
© 1980 Soil Science Society of America
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Reeder, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by Lober, R. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Reeder, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by Lober, R. W.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Reeder, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by Lober, R. W.

A Comparison of Cross-Contamination in Distillation Units Used in Total Nitrogen and Nitrogen-15 Analyses1

J. D. Reeder, W. A. O'Deen, L. K. Porter and R. W. Lober2

ABSTRACT

A laboratory study was conducted to investigate 15N cross-contamination errors between distilled standards [1 mg N as (NH4)2SO4] with various 15N excess contents (0, 3, or 10% excess 15N). Several stills differing in rate of distillation and construction were tested. We also compared the effectiveness of the ethanol (ETOH) cleansing technique with the (NH4)2SO4 cleansing technique in reducing cross-contamination errors. The ETOH wash was less effective than the (NH4)2SO4 wash in reducing cross-contamination errors for samples with normal abundance 15N but was equally effective in reducing cross-contamination errors for samples with high-enrichment 15N. The (NH4)2SO4 wash sometimes significantly diluted high-enrichment 15N samples.

Ammonia seemed to be absorbed and sporadically released from the nonglass components of the partial-glass still. Replacing the rubber and teflon components with glass and decreasing the glass surface area of the distillation unit decreased cross-contamination errors and increased the percent recovery of atom % 15N from the distillation unit.

NOTES

1 This research was supported in part by funds from the Environmental Protection Agency, Intragency Agreement: EPA-IAG-D5-E763. Published by the Colorado State Univ. Exp. Stn. as Scientific Series Paper no. 2483.

2 Soil Scientist, Chemist, Soil Scientist, and Physical Science Technician, respectively, USDA-SEA-AR, P.O. Box E, Fort Collins, CO 80522.

Received for publication April 30, 1980. Accepted for publication July 14, 1980.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Agronomy Journal Crop Science
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1980 by the Soil Science Society of America.