watts. After ashing, the inorganic residue was transferred back into the (C) 
vials. The transfer was facilitated by adding 0.1 ml of ultra-pure concentrated 
HNO 3 to the teflon beaker and slowly picking up the inorganic residue into the 
drop of HNO. as it was rolled around the inside of the beaker. The HNO 3 does 
not wet the inside of the beaker and can be quantitatively transferred into the 
polyvial. The (C) vials were capped and allowed to stand at room temperature 
for several days to insure dissolution of the particulate residue. One ml of 
demineralized water was added to the (C) vials after the dissolution period. The 
final acid concentration in the (C) vials was approximately 1.6 N in HNO 3 . All 
three vial solutions (A, B and C) were then analyzed for their Cu content. 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
Three of the (A) vial solutions were monitored for increases in Cu content 
during the first 15 hours of the extraction process. This data is plotted in 
Figure 5-1. It can be seen from Figure 5-1 that the extraction appears to be 
fairly rapid, and approaches a constant value at 15 hours. This particular data 
was the major reason for selecting a two-day elution time for the rest of the 
worms processed. 
minutes hours 
TIME 
Figure 5-1. Extraction of Cu from Neanthes arenace odentata 
with 5 percent HNO 3 function of time. 
64 
