Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] shoots from mature trees were collected from two sites of contrasting soil pH: the Glendon campus of York University in Toronto, Canada (pH 6.7 at 40 cm) designated Can.; and Breuil Forest, Morvan, France (pH 4 to 4.5) designated Fr.. Needles were removed from the shoots, frozen in liquid nitrogen, and kept in a cryo-biological storage system prior to X-ray microanalysis on the cold stage (-170°C) of a cryo-SEM. Four elements detected, potassium, phosphorus, sulphur and chlorine, were ubiquitous in the needle tissues from both sites. Manganese was infrequently found in needle tissues from the Fr. site. Calcium was localized most heavily in the outer tangential wall of the hypodermis and also in the epidermal walls. Silicon (Si) concentrations were higher in the Fr. site than in the Can. site. The epidermis, hypodermis and mesophyll of needles from the Fr. site exhibited the highest Si content, with greater amounts in the tip and middle of the needle than in the base. Aluminium was distributed fairly evenly throughout the tissues, and there were few major sites of concentration.

The polysaccharidic moieties of three biosorbents (Douglas fir and argan tree barks and argan endocarp) were selectively oxidized, and the subsequent modified materials were tested for their ability to bind Pb(II) or Cd(II) from aqueous solutions. Chemical modifications consisted in two selective oxidations, alone or in combination, of the following groups: primary alcohols with NaOBr catalyzed by (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxidanyl, and vicinal diols with periodate/chlorite. The sodium chlorite oxidation step induced biosorbent degradation that led to a significant decrease of mass yield. Modified materials, characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and measurement of surface acidity, were investigated for their adsorption capabilities of Cd(II) and Pb(II). Results were compared to the capabilities of crude materials using the Langmuir adsorption model in terms of affinity (b) and maximum binding capacity (q ₘₐₓ). Ion exchange properties were found better for lead than for cadmium before and after chemical modifications. Compared to crude barks, the best results were obtained for Douglas fir barks whose oxidation resulted in significant enhancements of q ₘₐₓ up to × 10 in the case of lead.