Determination of total arsenic levels by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry in foods from south-east Spain: estimation of daily dietary intake

The total concentration of arsenic in different foods from south-east Spain was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. Mineralization was carried out with an HNO(3)-HClO(4) mixture in a thermostated sand bath. Arsenic determination was performed by the standard addition method. Analyses of NIST and CBR-CEC reference materials demonstrated the reliability and accuracy of the technique. The highest arsenic levels were found in seafood, cereals, meat and meat by-products. In meat and meat by-products, the total arsenic measured in meat was significantly higher than that in sausages (p<0.05). In cereals, arsenic concentrations in corn and white rice samples were significantly higher (p<0.01) than those measured in wheat by-products. Mean arsenic concentrations in cheese were statistically lower than those in other dairy products (p<0.01). New data have been provided on the total arsenic content of a variety of foods in Spain, which is important for making exposure estimates. The estimated daily intake of total arsenic in the Spanish diet was 221 microg As day(-1).

Ultrasonic extraction followed by sonolysis-ozonolysis as a sample pretreatment method for determination of reactive arsenic toward sodium tetrahydroborate by flow injection-hydride generation AAS

A new sample pretreatment method based on ultrasonic extraction in HCI medium and subsequent oxidation of the extracts by sonozone (i.e., sonolysis-ozonolysis) has been developed for determination of reactive arsenic toward sodium tetrahydroborate [mainly As(III) + As(V)] by flow injection-hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. This method avoids the use of intensive treatments with concentrated and corrosive acids, high pressures, and temperatures that are inherent with traditional wet or dry ashing procedures and entails reduced waste production and reagent consumption. A sonozone process at room temperature was optimized to break the bond of As to proteins and macromolecular constituents which was an essential requirement for effective reduction by L-cysteine prior to arsine generation. Spiking experiments showed that As(III), As(V), MMA, and DMA were fully recovered from several matrixes on applying the above treatment. On the other hand, a nonreducible As species such as arsenobetaine that is predominant in some biological samples remained unchanged. Application of the method to sediment, soil, fly ash, and plant CRMs demonstrated that, in general, a good agreement existed between certified and found As contents, thereby indicating the absence of nonreducible As forms. Low As recoveries were observed for fish CRMs, as a result of the nondegradability of arsenobetaine by sonozone. The detection limit of As in the samples investigated was in the range 0.19-2.8 microg g(-1).

Presence and distribution of arsenical species in beers

The total content of arsenic and of its inorganic (As(III) and As(V)) and organic (monomethylarsonic acid, MMAA, and dimethylarsinic acid, DMAA) species were determined in a set of 21 alcoholic and alcohol-free beer samples using the technique of Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. For total arsenic analysis, beer samples were dried and then microwave digested with nitric acid in polytetrafluoroethylene containers. For the speciation analysis, beers were previously subjected to ion exchange chromatography to elute the mentioned inorganic and organic arsenical species. Both microwave digestion and chromatographic separation methods were validated from certified reference materials and prepared standard solutions, respectively. The results obtained are presented in terms of the distribution and occurrence of arsenical species in the samples. The As levels of the beer samples were in the range of 1.5-12.4 micrograms/l. The influence of the production process for the alcohol-free beers in the speciation of arsenic is discussed. In alcoholic beers MMAA was the most abundant species, and for non-alcoholic beers inorganic As(III) was similar to the organic species. An estimated intake of total As of 0.47 microgram/person/day and 11.4 micrograms/person/day was obtained for average consumers and for heavy drinkers, respectively.