Arsenic pesticide contamination

Woolson et al. (1971) used a modified soil P procedure to study distribution of As in U.S. soils. The mass of the residual As in both uncontaminated and soils contaminated with arsenic pesticides from Washington and Oregon is found as the Fe oxide bound As (0.1 N NaOH extractable), followed by the Al oxide and the Ca bound As (extracted by NH4F and H2S04, respectively). 

Canc s, B., Juillot, F., Morin, G. et al. (2005) XAS evidence of As(V) association with iron oxyhydroxides in a contaminated soil at a former arsenical pesticide processing plant. Environmental Science and Technology, 39(24), 9398-405. 

Peryea, F.J. and Creger, T.L. (1994) Vertical distribution of lead and arsenic in soils contaminated with lead arsenate pesticide residues. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 78(3-4), 297-306. 

Robinson, G.R., Jr., Larkins, P., Boughton, C.J., Reed, B.W. et al. (2007) Assessment of contamination from arsenical pesticide use on orchards in the Great Valley region, Virginia and West Virginia, USA. Journal of Environmental Quality, 36(3), 654-63. 

Ayuso, R. A., Foley, N. K., Robinson, G. R., Jr., Colvin, A. S., Lipfert, G., and Reeve, A. S. (2006). Tracing lead isotopic compositions of common arsenical pesticides in a coastal Maine watershed containing arsenic-enriched ground water. In Contaminated Soils, Sediments and Water , Proceedings of the 21st Annual International Conference on Soils Sediments and Water, (P. T. Kostecki, E. J. Calabrese, and J. Dragun, eds.), Vol. 11, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Compact Disk publication (CD), 25 p. 

The Pure Food Law of 1906 was amended in 1938 to include pesticides on foods, primarily the arsenicals, such as lead arsenate and Paris green. It also required the adding of color to white insecticides, including sodium fluoride and lead arsenate, to prevent their accidental use as flour or other look-alike cooking materials. This was the first federal effort toward protecting the consumer from pesticide-contaminated food by providing tolerances for pesticide residues, namely arsenic and lead, in foods where these materials were necessary for the production of a food supply. 

Contaminated water, food containing residue of arsenic pesticides, and veterinary drug fish and shellfish are the richest sources of organic compounds arsenobetaine and arsenocholine... 

Assuming that the soils have been contaminated by the use of arsenate pesticides, calculate the upper limit of solubility of AsOl in ... 

The extent of arsenic sorption in natural waters will be influenced by many factors, relating to both the sorbent and the water composition. As(V) and As(III) have different affinities for various sorbent phases that may be present in sediment, soils, and aquifers. Thus the redox speciation of arsenic and the characteristics of available sorbents will strongly affect the extent of arsenic sorption as will the pH and concenPations of co-occurring inorganic and organic solutes in the aqueous phase. Since sorption is a surface phenomenon and is limited by the availability of surface sites on the sorbing phase(s), the extent of competition between arsenic and other sorbates will depend not only on the affinity of each sorbate for the surface but also on their concentrations relative to each other and to the surface site concentration. Elevated concenPations of phosphate have been used to desorb arsenic from clays (51) and from soils contaminated with arsenical pesticides (113). 

If you are at risk for soil contamination either because you live near a busy street or industrial source of lead or because you have had lead paint deteriorating on your property or a history of lead arsenate pesticide spraying, you should take precautions, unless and until you have had your soil tested and are told that it is safe. Limit your children s exposure to the soil, and exercise caution regarding any vegetable gardening. 

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