Sources of Arsenic

Arsenic is widely distributed about the earth and has a terrestrial abundance of approximately 5 g/t (4). Over 150 arsenic-bearing minerals are known (1). Table 2 fists the most common minerals. The most important commercial source of arsenic, however, is as a by-product from the treatment of copper, lead, cobalt, and gold ores. The quantity of arsenic usually associated with lead and copper ores may range from a trace to 2 —3%, whereas the gold ores found in Sweden contain 7—11% arsenic. Small quantities of elemental arsenic have been found in a number of localities. 

Davis A, DeCumou P, Eary LE. 1997. Discriminating between sources of arsenic in the sediments of a tidal waterway, Tacoma, Washington. Environ Sci Technol 31 185-191. 

Sources of arsenic contamination and remediation of mine water at the historical Glen Wills mining area in Northeast Victoria, Australia... 

The objectives of this research were to determine the potential for contamination of Snow Lake which provides drinking water for the town of Snow Lake, and the local environment by identifying the source of arsenic in the ground water at MW17 and the mechanisms by which arsenic is being transported and attenuated. 

Arsenic is the 53rd most abundant element and is widely distributed in the Earths crust. It occurs naturally in several minerals, but high-grade deposits are rare. Most of the minerals and ores that contain arsenic also contain other metals. Some major sources of arsenic are the minerals orpiment, scherbenkobalt, arsenopyrite, niccohte, realgar, gersdorffite, and smaltite. In addition, most sulfide ores of other metals also contain some arsenic. The three major minerals that produce arsenic are realgar (arsenic monosulfide, AsS), orpiment (arsenic trisidfide, ASjSj), and arsenopyrite (iron arsenosulfide, FeAsS). 

Webster, J. G. 1999. The source of arsenic (and other elements) in the Marbel-Matingao river catchment, Mindanao, Philippines. Geothermics, 28, 95-111. 

Identification of all possible sources of arsenic required education of the investigators by means of written literature, lectures by Hewlett Packard s staff, and demonstrations and explanations by HP s process operating supervisors and staff. This education is one of the prime areas where HP demonstrated the kind of cooperation and knowledge of their facility and process that made the chemical characterization with respect to arsenic a rather comprehensive one. 

A key precursor to multidentate arsines is o-bromophenyldichloroarsine, which may be similarly obtained if the diazotization is conducted in glacial acetic acid and the source of arsenic is AsCl (equation 34).107,10 Conproportionation of PhAsCl, and PhAsO gives Ph2AsCl (contaminated with PhAsCl2 and PhjAs).106... 

Bexfield, L.M. (2001) Occurrence and sources of arsenic in ground water of the middle Rio Grande Basin, Central New Mexico. Master s Thesis. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, p. 183. 

Root, T.L., Bahr, J. and Gotkowitz, M.G. (2003) Arsenic in groundwater in southeastern Wisconsin sources of arsenic and mechanisms controlling arsenic mobility. Abstracts with Programs-Geological Society of America, 35(6), 575. 

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