The stabilized liquid membrane device (SLMD) is a passive, integrative sampler that provides an alternative or complementary approach to the conventional water sampling of aqueous metals.
The water-insoluble chelating agent-organic acid mixture diffuses in a controlled manner to the exterior surface of the sampler membrane and binds to environmental metals.
In practice, the SLMD provides for continuous sequestration of bioavailable forms of trace metals, such as, cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn).
[1] Exposure to ionic metals has been shown to result in deleterious effects for aquatic organisms[2] and may induce oxidative stress, cause DNA damage,[3] and decrease enzyme activity.
The metal species can be identified and analyzed using widely recognized standard techniques (e.g., digestion, atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, etc.).