a rapid colorimetric method for measuring arsenic.pdfVIP

Analytica Chimica Acta 526 (2004) 203–209 A rapid colorimetric method for measuring arsenic concentrations in groundwater R.K. Dhara,b,c,∗, Y. Zhenga,b,c , J. Rubenstonec , A. van Geenc a School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, NSB D-216, Queens College, City University of Ne wYork, 65-30 Kissena Building, Flushing, NY 11367, USA b Graduate School and University Center, City University of Ne wYork, NY, USA c Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA Received 5 May 2004; received in revised form 16 September 2004; accepted 16 September 2004 Abstract The arsenic content of groundwater consumed by millions of people in the developing world has become a major health concern. We report here an optimization of the colorimetric method of Johnson and Pilson (1972) to accurately measure As concentrations in the 0.03–5.3 mol L−1 (2–400 g L−1) range in groundwater containing 2–30 mol L−1 dissolved phosphate. The optimization includes in- creases in the concentrations of potassium iodate, ascorbic acid, antimonyl tartrate used for sample pre-treatment and color development that significantly lowered the detection limit and shortened the reaction time. Mean recovery obtained for a suite of groundwater samples from Bangladesh spiked with As in the 0.13–13 mol L−1 (10–1000 g L−1) range, the linear range of the method, was 97 ± 5% (n = 10). The colorimetric method agrees within 5 g L−1 for As concentrations up to 0.67 mol L−1 (50 g L−1) and within 4% in the 0.67–5.3 mol L−1 (50–400 g L−1) range with As analysis of the same Bangladesh groundwater samples