INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ARSENIC IN THE ENVIRONMENT (As) ABSTRACTS

5th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As) 2014

PP077 - Arsenic Speciation in Seaweeds using Liquid Chromatography Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS)

Authors: L. Morrisona, Dr Bin Chen and Dr Warren T Corns (PSA)

The content of total and inorganic arsenic in three marine macroalgae species from a pristine location of the North Eastern Atlantic Ocean (Galway Bay, Ireland) was determined using Hydride Generation - Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (HG-AFS). Total arsenic concentrations ranged from 27.1 to 83.2 µg g-1 (dry weight). Mean inorganic arsenic concentrations ranged from 0.03 – 3.64 µg g-1 (dry weight). Laminaria digitata had the highest total and inorganic arsenic content. The data provides baseline concentrations for arsenic compounds in commercially important seaweeds.

4th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As) 2012

PP047 - Rapid Arsenic Speciation Analysis in Water Samples using Flow Injection Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry with a Low Pressure Short Column

Authors: Dr Bin Chen, Dr Warren T Corns, Jasmina Allen, and Dr Peter B Stockwell (PSA)

Inorganic arsenic (arsenite and arsenate) are the most common arsenic species found in water samples.  They are proven to be carcinogenic due to their much higher toxicity than organic arsenic forms.  Fast and accurate screening of inorganic arsenic species in water samples has increasingly received great attention.  Arsenic generally presents in water samples at low ng/ml levels, and the transformation between arsenite and arsenate can also be troublesome during the sample collection and transportation processes.  In this presentation, a fast, easy yet accurate sampling method and sensitive analysis protocol is proposed for arsenic speciation in water samples.

Two cartridges (A and B) were used to collect water samples for arsenic speciation.  An aliquot of the water sample (100 ml) was passed through cartridge A or B.  Cartridge A is packed with a modified C8 absorbent which only retains arsenite, and cartridge B is packed with anion exchange material which only retains arsenate.  Samples were collected on these cartridges on site and subsequently shipped to the lab.  Cartridges not only pre-concentrate arsenic in the water samples, but also avoid the inter-specie transformation.  Upon receipt of the sample in the lab, 10 ml of 25 % (v/v) HCl was passed through the cartridge and the arsenite or arsenate was eluted.  The eluent was then pre-reduced by the addition of 2% KI (m/v) prior to the analysis by hydride generation – atomic fluorescence spectrometry.  This procedure greatly reduces the risk of specie transformation, as well as increasing the precision and sensitivity of the analysis.

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PP065 - The Use of Ion Chromatograhy Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS) for Arsenic Speciation in Apple Juice

Authors: Dr Bin Chen,  Dr Warren T Corns and Dr Peter B Stockwell (PSA)

The US Emmy Award winning Dr. Oz Show reveals that high arsenic levels were found in store-bought apple juice which subsequently raised great health concern in the public around the world.  The world production of apple juice concentrate is led by China, Poland, the United States and Germany.  More than 50 apple juice samples were collected from the stores in China, Poland, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom for arsenic speciation.  The procedure used was based on HPLC-HG-AFS technique. The analytical performance and results are summarized in detail in this paper.  Arsenic concentrations as well as speciation in the apple juice from different region were also discussed.

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ORAL - Arsenic Speciation in Rice using Liquid Chromatography using Flow Injection Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (FI-HPLC-HG-AFS)

Authors: Dr Bin Chen, Dr Warren T Corns (PSA) and Jen-How Huang (Inst of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics)

A simple extraction procedure quantitatively recovers all arsenic species from rice grains as well preserve its speciation completely.  The procedure was applied to HPLC-HG-AFS and HPLC-ICP-MS for arsenic speciation in 80 rice samples collected around the world.

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2nd International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As) 2008

PP037 - Determination of Arsenic Species using Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

Authors: Dr Peter B Stockwell, Dr Warren T Corns, Dr Bin Chen and Jasmina Allen (PSA)

Arsenic and its compounds are known to cause several adverse health effects including cancers of the skin, bladder, kidney, and lung, and diseases of the blood vessels of the legs and feet. P S Analytical supplies dedicated analysis systems for both total and species determination.  Speciation is important to monitor levels of individual Arsenic species as the toxicity of certain elements depends very heavily on their physico-chemical form.  Urinary As metabolites are used frequently in epidemiological and environmental health studies as a means of assessing exposure to As from various sources. The concentrations of urinary As methylation are often found to be at low enough levels (~ ng/ml) to require sensitive analytical methods involving speciation, identification and quantification of each individual species. Using Millennium Excalibur system based on high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (HPLC-HG-AFS), As metabolites such as arsenobetaine, arsenite, dimethylarsenic acid, monomethylarsonic acid and arsenate have been separated using ion-pairing reverse phase HPLC within 10 minutes.  A mobile phase of pH 9 containing 20mM ammonium phosphate, 5mM TBAH and 4% ethanol was used for the separation of Arsenic species.  The eluent was further digested using an online post column UV digestion device at 200°C, followed by the sensitive detection of HGAFS which was able to provide sub ppb detection limits.

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