Premium
Methylated arsenic species in estuarine porewaters
Author(s) -
Ebdon L,
Walton A P,
Millward G E,
Whitfield M
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.590010507
Subject(s) - arsenic , chemistry , environmental chemistry , inorganic arsenic , estuary , genetic algorithm , atomic absorption spectroscopy , hydride , ecology , metal , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
Inorganic arsenic, monomethylarsenic and dimethylarsenic species have been observed in samples of sediment porewater collected from the Tamar Estuary in South‐West England. Porewater samples were collected using in situ dialysis. The arsenic species were separated by hydride generation and concentrated by liquid nitrogen trapping, prior to analysis by directly coupled gas chromatography‐atomic absorption spectroscopy. The predominant dissolved arsenic species present was inorganic arsenic (5‐62 m̈g dm −3 ). However, this is the first time significant concentrations of methylated arsenic species have been quantified in estuarine porewaters (0.04–0.70 m̈g dm −3 ), accounting for between 1 and 4% of the total dissolved arsenic. The presence of methylated arsenic compounds in porewaters is attributed to in situ environmental methylation, although the possibility of methylated arsenic species being derived from biological debris cannot be excluded.