Distribution of arsenic compounds in Mytilus galloprovincialis of the Venice lagoon (Italy).
Samples of Mytilus galloprovincialis collected in different sites of the Venice lagoon (Italy) were investigated for total arsenic concentrations by ICP-AES and for single arsenic species by HPLC-ICP-MS. For this purpose, an analytical procedure for the sensitive and efficient speciation of the arsenic species As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), arsenobetaine (AB), arsenocholine (AC), and four arsenosugars was optimised. The total arsenic and the single arsenic species were determined in both the hepatopancreas (digestive gland) and the remaining soft tissues in order to verify the different arsenic accumulation in the body parts of mussels. Arsenic compounds were extracted from the mussels with a methanol/water mixture; the extracts were evaporated to dryness, redissolved in water, and chromatographed in an anion-exchange column, a Hamilton PRP-X100. Only small quantities or traces of inorganic arsenic were detected in the mussels. The majority of arsenic compounds detected in the extracts were organic species, with a predominance of arsenobetaine and of an arsenosugar. In addition, a greater arsenic accumulation in the digestive glands of mussels was observed.
Argese
Emanuele
E
Department of Environmental Sciences, Ca' Foscari University, Calle Larga S. Marta 2137, Venezia, Italy. argese@unive.it
Bettiol
Cinzia
C
Rigo
Chiarafrancesca
C
Bertini
Sebastiano
S
Colomban
Silvia
S
Ghetti
Pier Francesco
PF
D000818:Animals; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
D001152:Arsenicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical