Arsenic in the Environment

Abstract

Introduction Environmental studies of arsenic are intriguing exercises largely because (1) the chemistry of this element provides for several molecular forms to exist in both air and water; (2) interactions with the biosphere can occur; and (3) in most instances analytical chemistry is required involving very small sample sizes. A brief historical excursion into the subject of arsenic in the environment would start with the ancient, known toxicity of compounds of this element, touch on the toxicity of arsenic if used in wallpaper and be composed thereafter of laboratory studies on the biomethylation of arsenic in cultures, analyses for total arsenic, analyses of industrial locations for arsine in air, and radiochemical tracer studies of arsenic in soil experiments. Much of this work has gone a long way in helping to define the analytical chemistry problem, a logical starting point in studying the environmental chemistry of arsenic. Because of the likelihood