Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A comparative study of the extractability of arsenic species from silverbeet and amaranth vegetables

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is still no reliable standard extraction method for the speciation of arsenic (As) in plant tissue, and hence there is great interest in developing one for plants that are used as human food. Speciation and bioavailability are critical for accurate human health risk assessment, as As species vary in both their toxicity and bioavailability. Recent incidences of As poisoning in many countries have led to significant research into the fate and dynamics of As in the soil and water environment, including speciation. Although one of the major pathways of ingestion of As is via food, only limited research has been conducted to assess the nature and proportion of various As species present in food crops. In this study, we compared the efficacy of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and protein extracting solution for the extractability of As from two different species of spinach (amaranth and silverbeet). We found that a microwave-assisted technique with protein extracting solution was most effective, yielding 76–114% extractability and excellent separation and speciation of all As species present in the spinach matrices. The stability test for extracted As species showed them as stable for 45 days without any significant loss or inter-conversion. Both AsIII and AsV were identified in the shoots of amaranth and silverbeet. However, the percentage of As species varied between amaranth and silverbeet. The silverbeet shoot showed a somewhat higher percentage of AsV, while the amaranth showed a higher percentage of AsIII. The samples contained mostly inorganic As, especially AsIII (>90%) in the edible part of the vegetables, a form that is more toxic and bioavailable than other organic and methylated species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abedin, M. J., Cresser, M. S., Meharg, A. A., Feldmann, J., & Cotter-Howells, J. (2002). Arsenic accumulation and metabolism in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Environmental Science & Technology, 36, 962–968.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Akter, K., Chen, Z., Smith, L., Davey, D., & Naidu, R. (2005a). Speciation of arsenic in ground water samples: A comparative study of CE-UV, HG-AAS and LC-ICP-MS. Talanta, 68, 406–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akter, K., & Naidu, R. (2006). Arsenic speciation in the environment. In R. Naidu, et al. (Eds.), Managing Arsenic in the environment: from soil to human health (pp. 61–74). Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akter, K. F., Owens, G., Davey, D. E., & Naidu, R. (2005b). Arsenic speciation and toxicity in biological systems. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 184, 97–149.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brisbin, J. A., B’Hymer, C., & Caruso, J. A. (2002). A gradient anion exchange chromatographic method for the speciation of arsenic in lobster tissue extracts. Talanta, 58, 133–145.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caruso, J. A., Heitkemper, D. T., & Hymer, C. B. (2001). An evaluation of extraction techniques for arsenic species from freeze-dried apple samples. Analyst, 126, 136–140.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Z. L., Akter, K. F., Rahman, M. M., & Naidu, R. (2007). The separation of arsenic species in soils and plant tissues by anion-exchange chromatography with inductively coupled mass spectrometry using various mobile phases. Microchemica Acta. doi:10.1016/j.microc.2007.10.007.

  • Day, J. E., Montes-bayon, M., Vonderheide, A. P., & Caruso, J. A. (2002). A study of method robustness for arsenic speciation in drinking water samples by anion exchange HPLC-ICP-MS. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 373, 664–668.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gong, Z. L., Lu, X. F., Ma, M. S., Watt, C., & Le, X. C. (2002). Arsenic speciation analysis. Talanta, 58, 77–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He, B., Fang, Y., Jiang, G. B., & Ni, Z. M. (2002). Optimization of the extraction for the determination of arsenic species in plant materials by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 57, 1705–1711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heitkemper, D. T., Vela, N. P., Stewart, K. R., & Westphal, C. S. (2001). Determination of total and speciated arsenic in rice by ion chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 16, 299–306.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helgesen, H., & Larsen, E. H. (1998). Bioavailability and speciation of arsenic in carrots grown in contaminated soil. Analyst, 123, 791–796.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jokai, Z., Hegoczki, J., & Fodor, P. (1998). Stability and optimization of extraction of four arsenic species. Microchemical Journal, 59, 117–124.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, J., Maher, W., Chariton, A., & Krikowa, F. (2002). Arsenic concentrations and speciation in a temperate mangrove ecosystem, NSW, Australia. Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 16, 192–201.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koch, I., Hough, C., Mousseau, S., Mir, K., Rutter, A., Ollson, C., et al. (2002). Sample extraction for arsenic speciation. Canadian Journal of Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy, 47, 109–118.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koch, I., Wang, L. X., Ollson, C. A., Cullen, W. R., & Reimer, K. J. (2000). The predominance of inorganic arsenic species in plants from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Environmental Science & Technology, 34, 22–26.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuehnelt, D., Lintschinger, J., & Goessler, W. (2000). Arsenic compounds in terrestrial organisms. IV. Green plants and lichens from an old arsenic smelter site in Austria. Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 14, 411–420.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maher, W., Goessler, W., Kirby, J., & Raber, G. (1999). Arsenic concentrations and speciation in the tissues and blood of sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) from Lake Macquarie NSW, Australia. Marine Chemistry, 68, 169–182.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Montperrus, M., Bohari, Y., Bueno, M., Astruc, A., & Astruc, M. (2002). Comparison of extraction procedures for arsenic speciation in environmental solid reference materials by high-performance liquid chromatography-hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectroscopy. Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 16, 347–354.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, I., Prince, R., Salt, D., & George, G. (2000). Reduction and coordination of arsenic in Indian mustard. Plant Physiology, 122, 1171–1177.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pizarro, I., Gomez, M., Camara, C., & Palacios, M. A. (2003). Arsenic speciation in environmental and biological samples: Extraction and stability studies. Analytica Chimica Acta, 495, 85–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quaghebeur, M., Rengel, Z., & Smirk, M. (2003). Arsenic speciation in terrestrial plant material using microwave-assisted extraction, ion chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 18, 128–134.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz, E., Munoz-Olivas, R., & Camara, C. (2005). A rapid and novel alternative to conventional sample treatment for arsenic speciation in rice using enzymatic ultrasonic probe. Analytica Chimica Acta, 535, 227–235.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, A.-C., Reisser, W., Mattusch, J., Popp, P., & Wennrich, R. (2000). Evaluation of extraction procedures for the ion chromatographic determination of arsenic species in plant materials. Journal of Chromatography A, 889, 83–91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Broeck, K., Vandecasteele, C., & Geuns, J. M. C. (1998). Speciation by liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry of arsenic in mung bean seedlings used as a bio-indicator for the arsenic contamination. Analytica Chimica Acta, 361, 101–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vela, N. P., Heitkemper, D. T., & Stewart, K. R. (2001). Arsenic extraction and speciation in carrots using accelerated solvent extraction, liquid chromatography and plasma mass spectrometry. Analyst, 126, 1011–1017.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., Zhao, F.-J., Meharg, A., Raab, A., Feldmann, J., & McGrath, S. (2002). Mechanisms of arsenic hyperaccumulation in Pteris vittata. Uptake kinetics, interactions with phosphate, and arsenic speciation. Plant Physiology, 130(3), 1552–1561.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the instrumental support of CERAR and financial support from ACIAR as PhD Fellowship to FR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lake, SA, 5095, Australia

    Farzana Rahman, ZuLiang Chen & Ravi Naidu

  2. Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment, University of South Australia, Mawson Lake, SA, 5095, Australia

    Farzana Rahman, ZuLiang Chen & Ravi Naidu

Authors
  1. Farzana Rahman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. ZuLiang Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ravi Naidu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ravi Naidu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rahman, F., Chen, Z. & Naidu, R. A comparative study of the extractability of arsenic species from silverbeet and amaranth vegetables. Environ Geochem Health 31 (Suppl 1), 103–113 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9225-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9225-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation