9.7.2014 SPSFAM Meeting Book

What is speciation?

The sorting of an element into the chemical groups  that are present in a sample.

Arsenic can be sorted into two main categories and  then further examined by   Inorganic arsenic Arsenite → As  3+  in AsO 3 3‐ A t → A 5+ i A O 3 rsena e  s  n s 4 ‐  Organic arsenic (monomethylarsonic acid ‐ MMAA, dimethylarsenic acid ‐ DMAA, arsenobetaine,  dimethylarsinoylribosides, etc.)

Toxicity and Speciation

Variations in toxicity for mercury and arsenic species  are well known.  Many other elements have similar  variations in toxicity that arise from particular species.

http://www‐pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1542_web.pdf