Determination of tellurium in sea water

The content of tellurium in sea water is not yet known because of its low concentration and the lack of an appropriate means for separation and determination up to now. By using a new method of XAD-Bismuthiol-II system to separate and determine a minute amount of tellurium ion in sea water, the content Te(IV) in surface water in the open sea was determined as ranging from 0.3 to 0.9 ng 1-1.