Arsenic Specific Absorption

Bauslaugh, J., Radziuk, B., Saeed, K. and Thomassen, Y. (1984). Reduction of effects of structured non-specific absorption in the determination of arsenic and selenium by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometrry. Anal. Chim. Acta 165,149. 

Concentrations of total arsenic in soil and water samples contaminated with old Arsenical Munitions are not very useful to characterize the potential risks. Knowledge of which arsenic compounds are present in such samples is absolutely necessary to define toxicity. The identification of arsenic compounds requires a separation step combined with a detection step. For separation, gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography are widely used. Atomic absorption spectrometers, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometers, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers may serve as arsenic-specific detectors. 

Trace contaminants in the phosphoms may be deterrnined by oxidation of the phosphoms by various techniques. The metals are then deterrnined by an inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometer or by atomic absorption. The most important trace metal is arsenic, which must be reduced in concentration for food-grade products. Numerous other trace metals have become important in recent years owing to the specifications for electronic-grade phosphoric acid requited by the semiconductor industry (see Electronic materials Semiconductors). Some trace elements must be reduced to the low ppb range in phosphoric acid to comply. 

Advantages High analysis rate 3-4 elements per hour Applicable to many more metals than voltammetric methods Superior to voltammetry for mercury and arsenic particularly in ultratrace range Disadvantages Nonspecific absorption Spectral interferences Element losses by molecular distillation before atomisation Limited dynamic range Contamination sensitivity Element specific (or one element per run) Not suitable for speciation studies in seawater Prior separation of sea salts from metals required Suspended particulates need prior digestion About three times as expensive as voltammetric equipment Inferior to voltammetry for cobalt and nickel... 

Recently, nonionic acid precursors based on nitrobenzyl ester photochemistry have been developed for chemically amplified resist processes (78-80). These ester based materials (Figure 8) exhibit a number of advantages over the onium salt systems. Specifically, the esters are easily synthesized, are soluble in a variety organic solvents, are nonionic in character, and contain no potential device contaminants such as arsenic or antimony. In addition, their absorption characteristics are well suited for deep-UV exposure. 

Part—IV has been entirely devoted to various Optical Methods that find their legitimate recognition in the arsenal of pharmaceutical analytical techniques and have been spread over nine chapters. Refractometry (Chapter 18) deals with refractive index, refractivity, critical micelle concentration (CMC) of various important substances. Polarimetry (Chapter 19) describes optical rotation and specific optical rotation of important pharmaceutical substances. Nephelometry and turbidimetry (Chapter 20) have been treated with sufficient detail with typical examples of chloroetracyclin, sulphate and phosphate ions. Ultraviolet and absorption spectrophotometry (Chapter 21) have been discussed with adequate depth and with regard to various vital theoretical considerations, single-beam and double-beam spectrophotometers besides typical examples amoxycillin trihydrate, folic acid, glyceryl trinitrate tablets and stilbosterol. Infrared spectrophotometry (IR) (Chapter 22) essentially deals with a brief introduction of group-frequency... 

L-Amino acid oxidase has been used to measure L-phenylalanine and involves the addition of a sodium arsenate-borate buffer, which promotes the conversion of the oxidation product, phenylpyruvic acid, to its enol form, which then forms a borate complex having an absorption maximum at 308 nm. Tyrosine and tryptophan react similarly but their enol-borate complexes have different absorption maxima at 330 and 350 nm respectively. Thus by taking absorbance readings at these wavelengths the specificity of the assay is improved. The assay for L-alanine may also be made almost completely specific by converting the L-pyruvate formed in the oxidation reaction to L-lactate by the addition of lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) and monitoring the oxidation of NADH at 340 nm. 

The most useful chemical species in the analysis of arsenic is the volatile hydride, namely arsine (AsH3, bp -55°C). Analytical methods based on the formation of volatile arsines are generally referred to as hydride, or arsine, generation techniques. Arsenite is readily reduced to arsine, which is easily separated from complex sample matrices before its detection, usually by atomic absorption spectrometry (33). A solution of sodium borohydride is the most commonly used reductant. Because arsenate does not form a hydride directly, arsenite can be analyzed selectively in its presence (34). Specific analysis of As(III) in the presence of As(V) can also be effected by selective extraction methods (35). 

It is of interest that arsenobetaine is accumulated so much more readily than other similar arsenic species. The cationic nature of the compounds may be significant those compounds not bioaccumulated by the mussel are all anionic or neutral at seawater pH, whereas those accumulated all contain a positive charge. The zwitterionic nature of arsenobetaine may also be a factor, and recent experiments with C-3 and C-4 arsenic containing betaines (compounds 42 and 43) support this view. Preliminary results (164 ) show that mussels bioaccumulate these compounds readily the relative bioaccumulation efficiency was C-2 betaine (arsenobetaine) 100, C-3 betaine 65, and C-4 betaine 6 (Table VII). These results also suggest that the distance between the charges in the molecules may be an additional factor. Expansion of studies on arsenic uptake from water may elucidate the actual processes of absorption of arsenobetaine, which may involve a specific ion channel. 

The specific refraction 8 is 0-2732 and the refraction equivalent 49-50. The absorption of light by a 0-0lN-solution of arsenic trichloride in N-hydrochiorie acid has been examined,9 and it has been observed that the molecular extinction coefficient varies from 5 to 30 as the wavelength of the incident light decreases from 3570 to 2270 A. 

Grabinski [12] has described an ion exchange method for the complete separation of the above four arsenic species, on a single column containing both cation and anion exchange resins. Flameless atomic absorption spectrometry with a deuterium arc background correction is used as a detection system for this procedure. This detection system was chosen because of its linear response and lack of specificity for these compounds combined with its resistance to matrix bias in this type of analysis. 

A combination of IPC and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) MS was extensively explored for the speciation of phosphorus, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, mercury, and chromium compounds [108-118] because it provides specific and sensitive element detection. Selenium IPC speciation was joined to atomic fluorescent spectrometry via an interface in which all selenium species were reduced by thiourea before conventional hydride generation [119], Coupling IPC separation of monomethyl and mercuric Hg in biotic samples by formation of their thiourea complexes with cold vapor generation and atomic fluorescence detection was successfully validated [120]. The coupling of IPC with atomic absorption spectrometry was also used for online speciation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) [121] and arsenic compounds employing hydride generation [122]. 

Persson and Irgum determined sub-p.p.m. concentrations of DMAA in seawater by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used as a sensitive and specific detector for arsenic. The technique allowed DMAA to be determined in a sample (20 ml) containing a 10 -fold excess of inorganic arsenic with a detection limit of 0.02ng As ml ... 

The ASTM F 1185 designation specifies chemical and crystallographic requirements for hydroxyapatite applied to the surfaces of surgical implants. Elemental analyses for calcium and phosphorus will confirm the expected stoichiometry of hydroxyapatite. The calcium and phosphorus contents will be determined by a suitable method such as ion chromatography. A quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis will determine a hydroxyapatite content of at least 95%. The concentration of deleterious trace elements such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead will be assessed for hydroxyapatite derived from natural resources. The analysis of other trace elements may be required, based on the conditions, apparatus or environments specific to the manufacturing techniques and raw materials. Inductively coupled plasma/mass spectroscopy (ICP/MS), atomic absorption (AAS) or the... 

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