Speciation and detection of arsenic in aqueous samples: A review of recent progress in non-atomic spectrometric methods

Inorganic arsenic (As) displays extreme toxicity and is a class A human carcinogen. It is of interest to both analytical chemists and environmental scientists. Facile and sensitive determination of As and knowledge of the speciation of forms of As in aqueous samples are vitally important. Nearly every nation has relevant official regulations on permissible limits of drinking water As content. The size of the literature on As is therefore formidable. The heart of this review consists of two tables: one is a compilation of principal official documents and major review articles, including the toxicology and chemistry of As. This includes comprehensive official compendia on As speciation, sample treatment, recommended procedures for the determination of As in specific sample matrices with specific analytical instrument(s), procedures for multi-element (including As) speciation and analysis, and prior comprehensive reviews on arsenic analysis. The second table focuses on the recent literature (2005–2013, the coverage for 2013 is incomplete) on As measurement in aqueous matrices. Recent As speciation and analysis methods based on spectrometric and electrochemical methods, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, neutron activation analysis and biosensors are summarized. We have deliberately excluded atomic optical spectrometric techniques (atomic absorption, atomic fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry) not because they are not important (in fact the majority of arsenic determinations are possibly carried out by one of these techniques) but because these methods are sufficiently mature and little meaningful innovation has been made beyond what is in the officially prescribed compendia (which are included) and recent reviews are available.     

Gold Nanoparticle Modified Electrodes Show a Reduced Interference by Cu(II) in the Detection of As(III) Using Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

Interference by Cu(II) causes serious problems in the detection of As(III) using anodic stripping voltammetry at gold electrodes. The behavior of Cu(II) and As(III) were examined at both a gold macro electrode and two kinds of gold nanoparticle modified electrodes, one where gold particles are deposited on glassy carbon (GC) and the other where basal plane pyrolytic graphite (BPPG) is the substrate. The sensitivity of As(III) detection was higher on gold nanoparticle modified electrodes than those on a macro gold electrode by up to an order of magnitude. In addition, the stripping peak of As(III) was narrower and more symmetric on a gold nanoparticle‐modified GC electrode, leading to analytical data with a lower limit of detection. At a macro gold electrode, the peak currents of Cu(II) were higher than those on gold nanoparticle modified electrodes. Accordingly, through the use of gold nanoparticle modified electrodes, the effect of copper interference to the arsenic detection can be reduced.     

Gold and Silver Micro‐Wire Electrodes for Trace Analysis of Metals

Micro‐wire electrodes were made from gold and silver wires (diameter: 25 μm; length: 3–21 mm) and sealed in a polyethylene holder; micro‐disk electrodes were made from the same wires and polished. The gold electrodes were electrochemically coated with mercury before use; the silver wires were used without coating. Comparative measurements demonstrated that the micro‐wire electrodes had much higher sensitivity, and a much (10–100×) lower limit of detection, than micro‐disk electrodes, and the sensitivity increased linearly with the area and length of the electrodes. Using a gold micro‐wire electrode of 21 mm and a deposition time of 300 s the limit of detection was 0.07 nM Pb in seawater of natural pH, compared to a limit of detection of 10 nM Pb (more than 100×greater) using a gold micro‐disk electrode of the same diameter. Using the silver micro‐wire electrode the limit of detection of lead was improved by a factor of 10 to 0.2 nM in acidified seawater. It is expected that the improved sensitivity of micro‐wire electrodes will lead to successful in situ detection of metals in natural waters.     

Determination of Copper in the Presence of Various Amounts of Arsenic with L‐Cysteine Modified Gold Electrodes

An L ‐cysteine modified gold electrode for the determination of copper in the presence of various amounts of arsenic with anodic stripping voltammetry has been studied. The electrode was fabricated by immersing a gold electrode in an ethanol solution of 5mM L ‐cysteine for 60 min. Various parameters, such as the effect of different supporting electrolytes, the pH of the electrolyte and the deposition potential were investigated. Under optimum conditions, copper was accumulated at ?0.3 V (vs. SEC) for 60 s in 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 5.0 in the presence of different amounts of arsenic. Essentially the same sensitivities (0.33±0.001 μA/μM) and limits of detection (0.13±0.002 μM) of copper were obtained with various amount of arsenic in the range 2 μM to 20 μM.     

Increased sensitivity of anodic stripping voltammetry at the hanging mercury drop electrode by ultracathodic deposition

An improved approach to the anodic stripping voltammetric (ASV) determination of heavy metals, using the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE), is reported. It was discovered that using very cathodic accumulation potentials, at which the solvent reduction occurs (overpotential deposition), the voltammetric signals of zinc(II), cadmium(II), lead(II) and copper(II) increase. When compared with the classical methodology a 5 to 10-fold signal increase is obtained. This effect is likely due to both mercury drop oscillation at such cathodic potentials and added local convection at the mercury drop surface caused by the evolution of hydrogen bubbles.     

Determination of Copper,Cadmium, Zinc And Lead In ArgeŞ River In Romania During Four Seasons By Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry And Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

ABSTRACT

The paper represents a continued study of selected heavy metals concentration in the Arge? River, the fifth river in length from Romania.

For the determination of metal ion concentration in Arge? river was used Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for sodium, potassium and magnesium; Direct Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry for calcium; Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry for copper, cadmium, zinc, aluminium, lead, titanium, zirconium, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, iron and nickel.

Copper, cadmium, zinc and lead concentration were determined by ICP–AES and ASV and results were reliable.

By comparison of the results a good agreement between these two techniques is observed.