phosphorus

Phosphorus is one of the key elements necessary for growth of plants and animals. Phosphates (PO4---) are formed from this element. Phosphates exist in three forms: orthophosphate, metaphosphate (or polyphosphate) and organically bound phosphate. Each compound contains phosphorous in a different chemical formula. Ortho forms are produced by natural processes and are found in sewage. Poly forms are used for treating boiler waters and in detergents. In water, they change into the ortho form. Organic phosphates are important in nature. Their occurrence may result from the breakdown of organic pesticides, which contain phosphates. They may exist in solution, as particles, loose fragments or in the bodies of aquatic organisms. Rainfall can cause varying amounts of phosphates to wash from farm soils into nearby waterways. Phosphate will stimulate the growth of plankton and aquatic plants which provide food for fish. This may cause an increase in the fish population and improve the overall water quality. However, if an excess of phosphate enters the waterway, algae and aquatic plants will grow wildly, choke up the waterway and use up large amounts of oxygen. This condition is known as eutrophication or over-fertilization of receiving waters. This rapid growth of aquatic vegetation eventually dies and as it decays it uses up oxygen. This process in turn causes the death of aquatic life because of the further reduction of dissolved oxygen levels.



The term "phosphorus" was found in the following pages:

Journals database: Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements
Instrument database: Analytik Jena GmbH - contrAA 700 - High-Resolution Continuum Source Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
Agilent Technologies Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS Selected for R&D 100 Award | EVISA's News
Instrument database: LUMEX Ltd. - InfraLUMŽ FT-10 Near-IR FT Spectrometer
Journals database: Bone
Instrument database: Oxford Instruments - ARC-MET8000
Link database: Phosphorus in Food
DFG presents the 2005 MAK and BAT value lists | EVISA's News
Link database: Chemical Fact Sheet: Rhenium
Material database: Sigma-Aldrich - Matrix CRM - Soil, Sludge, Sediment: Trace Metals - Sewage Sludge 2
Instrument database: SPECTRO Analytical Instruments Inc. - SPECTROMAXx
Determination of Glyphosate in Rice with HPLC-ICP-MS/MS | EVISA's News
Imaging and Identification of Sulfur Species within Corals by X-ray Spectroscopy | EVISA's News
Material database: Sigma-Aldrich - Matrix CRM - Soil, Sludge, Sediment: Trace Metals - Sewage Sludge 3
Instrument database: Techcomp (Holdings) Ltd. - GC7890II
Directory of scientists: Paul J. Worsfold
Triple Quad ICP-MS: Pushing the limits for quantitation of phosphorus and sulfur | EVISA's News
Determination of tungsten species in natural waters by HPLC-ICP-MS | EVISA's News
HPLC-ICPMS/MS as a versatile tool for the speciation of non-metals: Sulfur species in wine | EVISA's News
Material database: Sigma-Aldrich - Matrix CRM - Soil, Sludge, Sediment: Trace Metals - Sewage Amended Soil