Arsenic compounds in terrestrial organisms. IV. Green plants and lichens from an old arsenic smelter site in Austria

• Published in: Applied organometallic chemistry Vol. 14; no. 8; pp. 411 - 420
• Main Authors: Kuehnelt, Doris, Lintschinger, Josef, Goessler, Walter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.08.2000; Wiley
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Arsenic; arsenobetaine; arsenoriboses; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; green plants; HPLC-ICP-MS; lichens; terrestrial environment; Austria; Europe; Trace analysis; Monocotyledones; Chemical analysis; Ore; Aldose; Pollutant behavior; Coupled method; HPLC chromatography; Compositae; Soil pollution; Inductive coupling plasma spectrometry; Gramineae; Dicotyledones; Achillea millefolium; Angiospermae; Arsenic Compounds; Lichenes; Spermatophyta; Mass spectrometry; Arsenic Organic compounds; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0268-2605; 1099-0739
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-0739(200008)14:8<411::AID-AOC24>3.0.CO;2-M

Two lichens and 12 green plants growing at a former arsenic roasting facility in Austria were analyzed for total arsenic by ICP–MS, and for 12 arsenic compounds (arsenous acid, arsenic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, methylarsonic acid, arsenobetaine, arsenocholine, trimethylarsine oxide, the tetramethylarsonium cation and four arsenoriboses) by HPLC–ICP–MS. Total arsenic concentrations were in the range of 0.27 mg As (kg dry mass)−1 (Vaccinium vitis idaea) to 8.45 mg As (kg dry mass)−1 (Equisetum pratense). Arsenic compounds were extracted with two different extractants [water or methanol/water (9:1)]. Extraction yields achieved with water [7% (Alectoria ochroleuca) to 71% (Equisetum pratense)] were higher than those with methanol/water (9:1) [4% (Alectoria ochroleuca) to 22% (Deschampsia cespitosa)]. The differences were caused mainly by better extraction of inorganic arsenic (green plants) and an arsenoribose (lichens) by water. Inorganic arsenic was detected in all extracts. Dimethylarsinic acid was identified in nine green plants. One of the lichens (Alectoria ochroleuca) contained traces of methylarsonic acid, and this compound was also detected in nine of the green plants. Arsenobetaine was a major arsenic compound in extracts of the lichens, but except for traces in the grass Deschampsia cespitosa, it was not detected in the green plants. In contrast to arsenobetaine, trimethylarsine oxide was found in all samples. The tetramethylarsonium cation was identified in the lichen Alectoria ochroleuca and in four green plants. With the exception of the needles of the tree Larix decidua the arsenoribose (2′R)‐dimethyl[1‐O‐(2′,3′‐dihydroxypropyl)‐5‐deoxy‐β‐D‐ribofuranos‐5‐yl]arsine oxide was identified at the low μg kg−1 level or as a trace in all plants investigated. In the lichens an unknown arsenic compound, which did not match any of the standard compounds available, was also detected. Arsenocholine and three of the arsenoriboses were not detected in the samples. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.