Hexavalent chromium (chromate) in soil needs to be minimized as it acts cancerogenic. Chromate may be introduced to soil by applying fertilizers containing Cr(VI). Most of this chromate is reduced to Cr(III) by oxidizing organic matter. The remaining chromate is determined according to EN ISO 15192 by alkaline digestion followed by ion chromatography with post-column reaction with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide and subsequent visible detection at 538 nm. Procedure B of EN 16318 applies the alkaline digestion and the same analytical procedure to fertilizers.
