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Refractory arsenic species in estuarine waters
Author(s) -
De Bettencourt A M M,
Andreae M O
Publication year - 1991
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.590050208
Subject(s) - chemistry , arsenic , ashing , environmental chemistry , sodium hydroxide , ultrafiltration (renal) , hydride , fraction (chemistry) , biogeochemical cycle , inorganic chemistry , chromatography , metal , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Total digestion of estuarine water samples by dry ashing shows that a significant fraction of dissolved arsenic does not form hydrides with sodium tetrahydroborane (NaBH 4 ) and is therefore not detected by the normal hydride generation‐atomic absorption analytical technique. It is also refractory to alkaline digestion with sodium hydroxide. Sequential ultrafiltration suggests a molecular weight below 210 for this new arsenic fraction. The magnitude and molecular weight of this fraction may open new perspectives on the biogeochemical cycling of arsenic. Ecological reasons can explain the discrepancy between these findings and previous research.