Stable carbon ((12/13)C) and nitrogen ((14/15)N) isotopes as a tool for identifying the sources of cyanide in wastes and contaminated soils--a method development.

The occurrence of iron-cyanide complexes in the environment is of concern, since they are potentially hazardous. In order to determine the source of iron-cyanide complexes in contaminated soils and wastes, we developed a method based on the stable isotope ratios (13)C/(12)C and (15)N/(14)N of the complexed cyanide-ion (CN(-)). The method was tested on three pure chemicals and two industrials wastes: blast-furnace sludge (BFS) and gas-purifier waste (GPW). The iron-cyanide complexes were converted into the solid cupric ferrocyanide, Cu(2)[Fe(CN)(6)].7H(2)O, followed by combustion and determination of the isotope-ratios by continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Cupric ferrocyanide was obtained from the materials by (i) an alkaline extraction with 1M NaOH and (ii) a distillate digestion. The [Fe(CN)(6)](4-) of the alkaline extraction was precipitated after adding Cu(2+). The CN(-) of the distillate digestion was at first complexed with Fe(2+) under inert conditions and then precipitated after adding Cu(2+). The delta(13)C-values obtained by the two methods differed slightly up to 1-3 per thousand for standards and BFS. The difference was larger for alkaline-extracted GPW (4-7 per thousand), since non-cyanide C was co-extracted and co-precipitated. Therefore the distillate digestion technique is recommended when determining the C isotope ratios in samples rich in organic carbon. Since the delta(13)C-values of BFS are in the range of -30 to -24 per thousand and of -17 to -5 per thousand for GPW, carbon seems to be a suitable tracer for identifying the source of cyanide in both wastes. However, the delta(15)N-values overlapped for BFS and GPW, making nitrogen unsuitable as a tracer.