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Organic Arsenic in the Soil Environment: Speciation, Occurrence, Transformation, and Adsorption Behavior

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Abstract

An attempt is made to describe the fate and behavior of organic arsenic (As) compounds in the soil environment, based on an extensive literature researches. The objective of this review is to provide an overview on the state of knowledge to date about the occurrence and potential transformation of organic As, including methylation, degradation, and hydration, in soils and their uptake and accumulation in plants and animals. Accordingly, the biogeochemical cycle of organic As in the soil environment is proposed.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support of JHH comes from Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione fellowship (PZ00P2_122212). KNH is supported by a fellowship from the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland

    Jen-How Huang

  2. Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Kan-Nian Hu

  3. Chemical Engineering Department, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Berryinne Decker

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  1. Jen-How Huang
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Correspondence to Jen-How Huang.

Appendix

Appendix

Abbreviations of different arsenic compounds

Abbreviation

Name

Formula

As(III)

Arsenous acid

H3AsO3

As(V)

Arsenic acid

H3AsO4

MMAA(V)

Monomethylarsonic acid

CH3AsO(OH)2

MMAA(III)

Monomethylarsonous acid

CH3As(OH)2

DMAA(V)

Dimethylarsinic acid

(CH3)2AsO(OH)

DMAA(III)

Dimethylarsinous acid

(CH3)2As (OH)

TMAO(V)

Trimethylarsine oxide

(CH3)3AsO

TETRA

Tetramethylarsonium ion

(CH3)4As+

AsB

Arsenobetaine

(CH3)3As+CH2COO−

AsC

Arsenocholine

(CH3)3As+CH2 CH2OH

–

Arsine

AsH3

MMA(-III)

Monomethylarsine

CH3AsH2

DMA(-III)

Dimethylarsine

(CH3)2AsH

TMA(-III)

Trimethylarsine

(CH3)3As

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Huang, JH., Hu, KN. & Decker, B. Organic Arsenic in the Soil Environment: Speciation, Occurrence, Transformation, and Adsorption Behavior. Water Air Soil Pollut 219, 401–415 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-010-0716-2

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