title: Determination of organoarsenicals in the environment by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: The development of a method for the analysis of organoarsenic compounds that combines dithiol derivatization with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) sample preparation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is described. Optimization focused on a SPME-GC-MS procedure for determination of 2-chlorovinylarsonous acid (CVAA), the primary decomposition product of the chemical warfare agent known as Lewisite. Two other organoarsenic compounds of environmental interest, dimethylarsinic acid and phenylarsonic acid, were also studied. A series of dithiol compounds was examined for derivatization of the arsenicals, and the best results were obtained either with 1,3-propanedithiol or 1,2-ethanedithiol. The derivatization procedure, fiber type, and extraction time were optimized. For CVAA, calibration curves were linear over three orders of magnitude and limits-of-detection were < 6.10(-9) M in solution, the latter a more than 400 x improvement compared to conventional solvent extraction GC-MS methods. A precision of < 10% R.S.D. was typical for the SPME-GC-MS procedure. The method was applied to a series of water samples and soil/sediment extracts, as well as to aged soil samples that had been contaminated with Lewisite.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Research Division, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439-4843, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Szostek
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Aldstadt
mesh_terms: D001152:Arsenicals / Q000032:analysis*; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007202:Indicators and Reagents
chemical_list: D001152:Arsenicals; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; C035965:lewisite