title: Quantitative analysis of arsenic speciation in guano and ornithogenic sediments using microwave-assisted extraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to hydride generation atomic ﬂuorescence spectrometry.
abstract: Seabird guano is one of the main sources of nutrient fertilizers in remote coastal island areas, but guano-derived contaminants such as arsenic may cause serious threats to local ecosystems and public health issues. In this study, a new method was developed to analyze arsenic speciation in guano and ornithogenic sediments. Good extraction efficiencies of As(III) (arsenite), DMA (dimethylarsinate), MMA (monomethylarsonate) and As(V) (arsenate) were obtained by using 1.0molL(-1) orthophosphoric acid and 0.1molL(-1) ascorbic acid, followed by microwave-assisted extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to hydride generation atomic ﬂuorescence spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS) detection. Under the optimized conditions, the extraction efficiencies of four arsenic species were over 80%. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 9.60, 6.15, 6.34 and 2.93% (n=7), and the detection limits (μgL(-1)) were 0.82, 2.38, 1.45 and 2.31 for As(III), DMA, MMA and As(V), respectively. This method was successfully used to determine arsenic speciation in the guano samples collected from the Xisha Islands of the South China Sea, and the results indicated that As(III) and As(V) were the dominant arsenic species in modern and ancient guano, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Chuangneng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Instruments' Center for Physical Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Wenqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: ycx@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000032:analysis*; D001717:Birds; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008872:Microwaves; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001152:Arsenicals
keywords: Arsenic speciation; Atomic ﬂuorescence spectrometry; Enrichment; Guano; Microwave-assisted extraction; Transformation