Selective reduction of arsenic species by continuous hydride generation. Part I. Reaction media

Continuous hydride generation, using sodium tetrahydroborate(III) as a reductant in conjunction with atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), has been used to form arsines selectively from arsenate (AsV), arsenite (AsIII), monomethylarsonic acid (MMAA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA). The reaction media studied have been shown to allow the rapid determination of AsIII alone, DMAA alone, AsIII+ AsV and “total” arsenic, i.e., AsIII+ AsV+ MMAA + DMAA. Interference effects produced by heavy metal ions are suppressed by the addition of masking agents.