Does converting a measurement from PO4 to PO4-P determine the total phosphorus concentration?

Document ID

Document ID TE369

Version

Version 3.0

Status

Status Published

Published Date

Published Date 08/09/2018
Question
Does converting a measurement from PO4 to PO4-P determine the total phosphorus concentration?
Summary
Converting a measurement from PO4-P to PO4 to determine the total phosphorus concentration
 
Answer
Converting the chemical form of phosphorus results from PO4 to PO4-P does not give the total phosphorus concentration. Total phosphorus is the sum of organic and inorganic forms of phosphate and requires a digestion using heat, acid and persulfate to convert organic and condensed phosphates to orthophosphate for measurement.

Please also see What is the factor to convert from PO4-P to PO4?
 

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