title: Assessment of solid phase microfiber extraction fibers for the monitoring of volatile organoarsinicals emitted from a plant-soil system.
abstract: Phytoremediation, the use of plants and microbes to clean up inorganic and organic pollutants, has shown great promise as an inexpensive and feasible form of remediation. More recently, studies have shown that some plants have an amazing capacity to volatilize contaminants and can be an effective remediation strategy if the chemicals released are non-toxic. Arsenic contamination and remediation has drawn great attention in the scientific community. However, its toxicity also varies depending on its form. We evaluated, optimized, and then utilized a solid phase microfiber extraction (SPME) head space sampling technique to characterize the organoarsinical emissions from rabbitfoot grass (Polypogon monspeliensis) in arsenic treated soils to determine if the potentially more toxic organic forms of arsenic (AsH3, AsH2CH3, AsH(CH3)2, and As(CH3)3) were being emitted from the plant-soil system. The SPME fiber that proved best fitted for this application was the DVB/CAR/PDMS fiber with a 45 min sampling period. We did detect and confirm the emissions of dimethylchloroarsine (AsCl(CH3)2) and pentamethylarsine (As(CH3)5). However, it was determined that the more toxic organic forms of arsenic were not released during phytovolatilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Campus Box 1652, Edwardsville, IL, 62026 USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruppert
authors.forename: Z-Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D001149:Arsenates / Q000737:chemistry; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D001554:Benzene / Q000737:chemistry; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001894:Borohydrides / Q000737:chemistry; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001149:Arsenates; D001894:Borohydrides; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001554:Benzene; D001151:Arsenic; C025657:arsenic acid