Ammonium Acetate Extraction for Soil Heavy Metal Speciation; Model Aided Soil Test Interpretation

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Abstract
The availability of cations in soil is a function of their solubilities and dissolution rate as they affect ionic activities in the soil solution over time. In practice this is time consuming to measure and a simpler approach focussed on exchangeable metals is chosen. It is believed that exchangeable metals in soil are most available to plants. Ammonium acetate extraction of soil and subsequent determination of extracted cation concentrations has been used widely to extract “exchangeable” ions. In the following review the suitability of this extraction method to predict heavy metal availability is discussed. It is recommended that extraction methods be supported with theory originating from soil chemistry and physics.