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Interaction of arsenic species with tropical river aquatic humic substances enriched with aluminum and iron

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Abstract

The mobility and bioavailability of arsenic (As) are strongly controlled by adsorption/precipitation processes involving metal oxides. However, the organic matter present in the environment, in combination with these oxides, can also play an important role in the cycle of arsenic. This work concerns the interaction between As and two samples of aquatic humic substances (AHS) from tropical rivers. The AHS were extracted as proposed by IHSS, and were characterized by 13C NMR. The experiments were conducted with the AHS in natura and enriched with metal cations, with different concentrations of As, and complexation capacity was evaluated at three different pH levels (5.0, 7.0, and 9.0). The AHS samples showed similar chemical compositions. The results suggested that there was no interaction between As(III) and AHS in natura or enriched with Al. Low concentrations of As(V) were bound to AHS in natura. For As(III), the complexation capacity of the AHS enriched with Fe was approximately 48 μmol per g of C, while the values for As(V) were in the range 69–80 μmol per grams of C. Fluorescence spectra showed that changes in Eh affected the complexation reactions of As(V) species with AHS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank CAPES (BEX 18302-12-2), CNPQ, and FAPESP for financial support and scholarships. Also, to Burkhard Kuehn from UFZ by technical assistance with the microcosm unit and Dr. Peter Herzsprung from UFZ that introduced the first author into the EEMF method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, UNESP, Rua Prof. Francisco Degni, 55, Araraquara, 18087-180, São Paulo, Brazil

    Lilian Karla de Oliveira & Camila de Almeida Melo

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, UNESP, Av. Três de Março, 511, Sorocaba, 18087-180, São Paulo, Brazil

    Lilian Karla de Oliveira, Camila de Almeida Melo, Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto & André Henrique Rosa

  3. UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Bruckstrasse 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    Kurt Friese

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  1. Lilian Karla de Oliveira
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  2. Camila de Almeida Melo
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  3. Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto
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  4. Kurt Friese
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  5. André Henrique Rosa
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Correspondence to Lilian Karla de Oliveira.

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de Oliveira, L.K., Melo, C.d.A., Fraceto, L.F. et al. Interaction of arsenic species with tropical river aquatic humic substances enriched with aluminum and iron. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 6205–6216 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5816-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5816-5

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