Infant rice cereals were analyzed for total arsenic, inorganic arsenic (i-As) and the organic arsenic species monomethylarsonoic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) using liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS). Total arsenic concentrations in the samples ranged from 110 ng/gup to 420 ng/g. The i-As in the rice cereals accounted for 33% to 77% of the...

Phytoplankton plays an important role in arsenic speciation, distribution, and cycling in freshwater environments. Little information, however, is available on arsenic efflux from the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa under different phosphate regimes. This study investigated M. aeruginosa arsenic efflux and speciation by pre-exposing it to 10 µM arsenate or arsenite for 24 h during limited ...

Bioaccessibility tests and mineralogical analyses were performed on arsenic-contaminated tailings and soils from gold mine districts of Nova Scotia, Canada, to examine the links between soil composition, mineralogy, and arsenic bioaccessibility. Arsenic bioaccessibility ranges from 0.1% to 49%. A weak correlation was observed between total and bioaccessible arsenic concentrations, and the arsen...

Arsenic exposure to humans is pervasive, and, increasingly, studies are revealing adverse health effects at ever lower doses. Drinking water is the main route of exposure for many individuals; however, food can be a significant source of arsenic to an individual, especially if their diet is rice-based. Infants are particularly susceptible to dietary exposure, since many first foods contain rice...

There are many different species (chemical forms) of arsenic, some more toxic than others. Exposure to inorganic species has been associated with cancer and other adverse health effects in humans. “We wanted to measure the presence of each arsenic species and describe the elimination kinetics of roxarsone metabolites. Our findings can help guide human exposure assessments,” says senior author X...

The analysis for arsenic in hair is commonly used in epidemiological studies to assess exposure to this toxic element. However, poor correlation between total arsenic concentration in hair and water sources have been found in previous studies. Exclusive determination of endogenous arsenic in the hair, excluding external contamination has become an analytical challenge. Arsenic speciation in hai...

The present investigation assessed the effects of a metalloid (arsenic) and two heavy metals (cadmium and mercury), on the growth and metal accumulation in two medicinal plant species, artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) and Savory (Satureja hortensis L.). The experiment was conducted hydroponically in spiked solution with different concentrations of arsenic (0, 20, 100, and 500 µM), cadmium (0, 10,...

The simultaneous determination of As(III), As(V), and DMA has been performed by ion chromatography (IC) coupled with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The separation of the three arsenic species was achieved by an anionic separator column (AS 7) with an isocratic elution system. The separated species were directly detected by ICP-MS as an element-selective detection method....

While a high efficiency of contaminant removal by nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) has often been reported for several contaminants of great concern, including aqueous arsenic species, the transformations and translocation of contaminants at and within the nanoparticles are not clearly understood. By analysis using in situ time-dependent X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) of the arsenic core l...

First void urine samples were collected from copper smelter workers exposed to inorganic arsenic and from unexposed controls. Arsenic compounds (As (III), As (V), methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) in these samples were analyzed by selective volatilization as arsines with determination of arsenic by plasma excitation emission spectrometry. On the day preceding the urine sample collect...