Total Arsenic and Arsenic Species Determination in Freshwater Fish by ICP-DRC-MS and HPLC/ICP-DRC-MS Techniques

Abstract

Analytical methods for the determination of total arsenic (TAs) and arsenic species (arsenite—As(III), arsenate—As(V), monomethylarsenic acid—MMA, dimethylarsenic acid—DMA and arsenobetaine—AsB) in freshwater fish samples were developed. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell (ICP-DRC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to ICP-DRC-MS were used for TAs and arsenic species determination, respectively. The DRC with oxygen as a reaction gas was used. Sample preparation, digestion, and extraction were optimized. Microwave assisted digestion and extraction provided good recovery and extraction efficiency. Arsenic species were fully separated in 8 min using 10 mmol L−1 of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and 10 mmol L−1 of ammonium nitrate. Overlapping of AsB and As(III) of arsenic species in the presence of a high concentration of AsB and trace amounts of As(III) were studied. Detailed validation of analytical procedures proved the reliability of analytical measurements. Both procedures were characterized by short-term and long-term precision: 2.2% (TAs) up to 4.2% (AsB), and 3.6% (TAs) up to 7.2% (DMA), respectively. Limits of detection (LD) were in the range from 0.056 µg L−1 for TAs to 0.15 µg L−1 for As(V). Obtained recoveries were in the range of 85%–116%. Developed methods were applied to freshwater fish samples analysis.