title: Environmental occurrence of arsenic in Colombia: a review.
abstract: The international literature on the presence of arsenic (As) in Latin America does not disclose the true magnitude of the presence of As in Colombia. In this paper, we summarize the literature on As occurrence in Colombia. The data reveal that As is present in matrices such as soil, sediments and water and in the food chain. Some of the As concentrations exceed the limits specified by national and international regulations. Arsenic higher concentrations are associated with mining regions (e.g., soils, up to 148 mg/kg; sediments, up to 1400 mg/kg) and agricultural areas (e.g., vegetables, up to 5.40 mg/kg; irrigation water, up to 255 μg/L), and underscore the potential human and environmental risks associated with the presence of As in the country. This review highlights the importance of focusing research on understanding the occurrence, origin and distribution of As in Colombia to better understand its environmental and public health impact.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Química Ambiental, Grupo de Estudios para la Remediación y Mitigación de Impactos Negativos al Ambiente (GERMINA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Carrera 30 N° 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: dlalonsoc@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental y Aplicada, Grupo de Estudios para la Remediación y Mitigación de Impactos Negativos al Ambiente (GERMINA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Carrera 30 N° 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: smlatorreo@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Química Ambiental, Grupo de Estudios para la Remediación y Mitigación de Impactos Negativos al Ambiente (GERMINA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Carrera 30 N° 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: ecastillo@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Elianna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología Ambiental y Aplicada, Grupo de Estudios para la Remediación y Mitigación de Impactos Negativos al Ambiente (GERMINA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Avenida Carrera 30 N° 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: pfdeb@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Pedro F B
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Brandão
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis*; D003105:Colombia; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020387:Food Chain; D006801:Humans; D008906:Mining; D012987:Soil; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012987:Soil; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenic; Colombia; Latin American