An approach for identification and determination of arsenic species in the extract of kelp.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is developing a kelp powder standard reference material (SRM) in support of dietary supplement measurements. Edible seaweeds such as kelp and laver consumed as diet or dietary supplement contain tens of mg/kg arsenic. The speciation information of arsenic in the seaweed should be provided because the total arsenic alone does not fully address the safety issue of the dietary supplement as the value assignment is originally intended. The inability to avail all arsenic species for value assignment measurements prevented the certification of arsenic species in the candidate SRM; however, approximately 70 % of total arsenic extracted with a 1:1 volume fraction of methanol:water mixture allowed arsenic speciation values to be assigned to a procedure-defined extract, which may be used for method validation in research to improve upon current extraction and measurement practices. Arsenic species in kelp and laver were identified using electrospray ionization ion trap time of flight mass spectrometry (ESI-IT-TOF). Arsenosugars As(328), As(482), and As(392) were found in the kelp candidate SRM while As(328) and As(482) were found in GBW 08521, a certified reference material (CRM) of laver produced by the National Institute of Metrology of China (NIM). A discovery that the digests of kelp and laver contained only dimethylarsinic acid led to the conclusion that the seaweeds did not contain detectible levels of arsenobetaine, arsenocholine or trimethylarsine oxide that could overlap with the peaks of arsenosugars in the separation. The mean ± s of (5.68 ± 0.28) mg/kg and (13.43 ± 0.31) mg/kg found for As(482) and As(392) in kelp, respectively, using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) demonstrated that value assignment measurement of arsenosugars was possible without arsenosugar calibration standards.

Arsenic contamination of the soil-wheat system irrigated with high arsenic groundwater in the Hetao Basin, Inner Mongolia, China.

As one of the most important crop in the world, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was irrigated with low As water and high As water. However, little is known about As cycling in the soil-wheat-water system. Two wheat fields (site G and site Y), irrigated with high dissolved As (178 µg L(-1)) groundwater and low dissolved As (8.2 µg L(-1)) surface water, respectively, were systematically sampled in the Hetao Basin, including irrigation water, soils and plants. The annual As (including dissolved As and suspended As) input per m(2) was estimated at 140 and 36.7 mg in site G and site Y, respectively. Topsoils of site G contained relatively higher As content (average 18.8 mg kg(-1)) than those of site Y (13.8 mg kg(-1)). Arsenic content of wheat grains in site G is systematically higher than in the site Y, which were positively correlated with non-specifically sorbed-As and amorphous Fe/Al oxide-bound As in topsoils. Arsenic-contaminated groundwater led to As accumulation in irrigated soils and the increase in As bioavailability, and subsequently resulted in the increase in As content of wheat grain. It suggested that less problematic water resources should be used for wheat irrigation in order to avoid As accumulation in the soil-plant system.