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Trace Metals Speciation

Arsenic

As a result of perceivable human health risks, the US EPA considers arsenic to be a contaminant of primary concern (CPC) and sets the target concentration of arsenic in drinking water to 0µg/L. Currently, as a compromise between technical feasibility, economic impact, analytical capabilities and toxicological concerns, the US EPA has lowered the drinking water criterion for arsenic to 10µg/L. In addition, the new rule requires increased monitoring frequency and sampling at every point in the distribution system with arsenic concentrations reported to the nearest 1µg/L. This posesa large problem with the US utilities of having to remove arsenic from their source waters to meet this criterion and monitor the concentration of arsenic in their systems.

Until recently, the determination of total elemental concentrations was considered to be sufficient for clinical and environmental considerations. While the total concentration of an element still provides useful and essential scientific information, the concentration of individual species is generally more critical. For instance, the accurate determination of a toxic species is more relevant in the setting of environmental and toxicological studies than is the total elemental concentration.

This is especially true for arsenic because different arsenic containing compounds have varying toxicities. For example, the inorganic species As(III) and As(V) are more toxic than pentavalent methylated arsenic compounds. The collection, treatment, and preservation of samples for quantitative analysis of arsenic species requires careful consideration and planning, separating speciation studies from “total” analyses. FGS has developed highly accurate analytical methods for the detection of As(III) and As(V) in water and total inorganic arsenic (TIA) in plant and animal tissue.

Ask Us About Selenium and Chromium Speciation

Contact Frontier GeoSciences today to request a free quote to view our most current reporting limits to get more information about how we can help you with arsenic, selenium or chromium monitoring projects.