5. Conclusion

are used as pigments in textile. There is a revival of the interest in arsenic as medicine for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome, and various resistant solid tumors. Other applications of the arsenic compounds include the paper industry, the pyrotechnic industry, and so on. Arsenic compounds were used as pesti-

• Coagulation and flocculation (the most commonly employed), which include two distinct processes: colloids destabilization neutralizing the electric charges allowing particles aggregation, followed by flocculation by a polymer building giant aggregates

• Precipitation including one of the following methods: alum coagulation [3], iron coagulation [4], lime softening [5], and combination of iron (and manganese) removal [6–8]. • Membrane filtration: a pressure driven process, which can include one of the following: microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and hyperfiltration or reverse osmo-

• Adsorption and ion exchange are employing solids to accumulate on their surface sub-

Arsenic is extremely poisonous for multicellular life, although several types of bacteria are capable of using arsenic compounds as respiratory metabolites. Pollution of groundwater with arsenic is a problem that affects millions of people around the world. Worldwide, up to 100 million people are at risk of exposure to arsenic from excess arsenic in drinking water in countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Mexico, and the USA. The US Environmental Protection Agency classifies arsenic as a carcinogen of group A due to the evidence of its adverse effects on health [17]. Exposure to 0.05 mg L<sup>1</sup> can cause 31.33 cases of skin cancer per 1000 inhabitants. For this reason, the maximum acceptance limit of

daily intake of 12–15 μg arsenic as a microelement from meat, fish, vegetables, and cereals maintains the immune system activity. The WHO warns that the maximum safe arsenic concentration for health is as low as 10 ppb, but limit values for arsenic species are not

Arsenic can be found as a pollutant in water or food, especially in shells and other seafood, and often polluting fruits and vegetables, especially rice. Today arsenic poisoning occurs through industrial exposure, from contaminated wine or smuggled spirits, or due to intentional use. The possibility of arsenic contamination of herbal preparations and food supplements should

. However, it was found that a

• Bioremediation, ozone oxidation, and electrochemical treatments are also applied.

The conventional methods most applied for arsenic removal are:

stances contained in liquid phase [12–16].

3. Arsenic and its compounds toxicity

0.050 mg L<sup>1</sup> of arsenic was lowered to 0.010–0.020 mg L<sup>1</sup>

cides in the past.

4 Arsenic - Analytical and Toxicological Studies

[1, 2].

sis [9–12].

established [17, 18].

also be taken into account.

In spite of the arsenic and its compounds important industrial application, the greatest attention is paid to their influence on the human health, especially in case of long temp action by contaminated drinking water and food. That is why detailed studies on arsenic toxicity and cancer provoking mechanisms were realized. The toxicity of the arsenic species may differ 10 and more times from one to another, so their transformation caused by condition changes (as pH, dissolved oxygen, and bacterial activity) during the sample transportation and conservation prior the laboratory analysis may cause false results. For this reason, simple analytical techniques and sensors for arsenic speciation have been developed able to realize in-situ speciation to evaluate the real toxicity of contaminated water, food, or soil samples. To prevent the negative arsenic influence on the human health, the most important is the decontamination of the affected waters and soils. Many methods based on different principles were developed ad successfully applied for this purpose.

[11] Seidel A, Waypa JJ, Elimech M. Role of charge (Donnan) exclusion in removal of arsenic from water by a negatively charged porous nanofiltration membrane. Environmental Engi-

Introductory Chapter: Arsenic

7

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[14] Huang CP, Fu PLK. Treatment of arsenic(V)-containing water by the activated carbon

[15] Gimbel R, Hobby R. Discharge of arsenic and heavy metals from activated carbon filters

[16] Eguez HE, Cho EH. Adsorption of arsenic on activated-charcoal. Journal of Meteorology.

[17] US EPA. National primary drinking water regulations: Arsenic and clarifications to compliance and new source contaminants monitoring. In: Final Rule, Code of Federal Regula-

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[20] Smedley PL, Kinniburgh DG. A review of the source, behavior and distribution of arsenic

[21] Feldmann J, Devalla S, Raab A, Hansen HR. In: Hirner AV, Emons H, editors. Organic Metal and Metalloid Species in the Environment. Heidelberg: Springer; 2004. p. 41

[22] Goessler W, Kuehnelt D. In: Mester Z, Sturgeon R, editors. Comprehensive Analytical Che-

[23] Miller GP, Norman DI, Frisch PL. A comment on arsenic species separation using ion exch-

[24] Francesconi KA. Toxic metal species and food regulations-making a healthy choice. Ana-

[25] Nischwitz V, Pergantis SA. Optimisation of an HPLC selected reaction monitoring electrospray tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of 50 arsenic species.

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