Determination of arsenic species in a freshwater crustacean Procambarus clarkii

The arsenic species present in samples of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii caught in the area affected by the toxic mine‐tailing spill at Aznalcóllar (Seville, Southern Spain) were analyzed. The total arsenic contents ranged between 1.2 and 8.5 µg g^?1 dry mass (DM). With regard to the different species of arsenic, the highest concentrations were for inorganic arsenic (0.34–5.4 µg g^?1 DM), whereas arsenobetaine, unlike the situation found in marine fish products, was not the major arsenic species (0.16 ± 0.09 µg g^?1 DM). Smaller concentrations were found of arsenosugars 1a (0.18 ± 0.11 µg g^?1 DM), 1b (0.077 ± 0.049 µg g^?1 DM), 1c (0.080 ± 0.089 µg g^?1 DM), and 1d (0.14 ± 0.13 µg g^?1 DM). The presence of two unknown arsenic species was revealed (U1: 0.058 ± 0.058 µg g^?1 DM; U2: 0.12 ± 0.12 µg g^?1 DM). No significant differences were seen with respect to the total arsenic contents between the sexes. However, significant differences in the total arsenic contents were revealed between the area affected by the spill and the area not affected, the contents being greater in the affected area. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.