Stability of Arsenic Species During Bioaccessibility Assessment Using the In Vitro UBM and HPLC-ICP-MS Detection.

The stability of four major arsenic (As) species during application of the BARGE (Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe) unified bioaccessibility method (UBM) has been assessed. The concentrations of As species in the UBM gastric and gastro-intestinal (gastric + intestinal) phases were determined using HPLC-ICP-MS whilst the total As content in the samples was determined using ICP-MS alone. The arsenic species studied were arsenite As(III), arsenate As(V), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA).

A study of arsenic speciation in soil, irrigation water and plant tissue: A case study of the broad bean plant, Vicia faba.

Samples of soil, the broad bean plant, Vicia faba and irrigation water were collected from the same agricultural site in Dokan, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Total arsenic and arsenic speciation were determined in all materials by ICP-MS and HPLC-ICP-MS, respectively. Available arsenic (11%) was also determined within the soil, together with Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, Fe and Mn.

An evaluation of extraction techniques for arsenic in staple diets (fish and rice) utilising both classical and enzymatic extraction methods.

Enzymatic extraction methods were evaluated with classical extraction approaches for the determination of arsenic in food. The extraction efficiency for total arsenic was determined by analysing CRM materials DORM-3 fish protein, NIES 106 rice flour and GBW10015 spinach. These were compared with total arsenic concentration determined using microwave-assisted acid digestion and ICP-MS.

Bioaccessibility of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Se and Zn from nutritional supplements by the unified BARGE method.

In this study, the Unified Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe (BARGE) in vitro method was used to assess the bioaccessibility of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Se, and Zn in ten nutritional supplement samples and three certified reference materials. The total digest, gastric phase and gastro-intestinal phase concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn were determined by ICP-OES and Cr, Mo and Se by ICP-MS. The bioaccessible fractions of the elements in the gastric phase for the nutritional supplements were in the range 13-89% for Cr, 9-79% for Cu, 55-99% for Fe, 33-95% for Mg, 83-94% for Mn, 42-101% for Mo, 74-125% for Se and 81-104% for Zn.

Determination of gallium at trace levels using a spectrofluorimetric method in synthetic U-Ga and Ga-As solutions.

A simple, easy to use and selective spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of trace levels of gallium has been developed. A new Schiff base, N-o-vanillidine-2-amino-p-cresol (OVAC) was synthesized and its fluorescence activity with gallium investigated. Based on this chelation reaction, a spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of gallium in synthetically prepared Ga-U and Ga-As samples buffered at pH 4.

Cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry and gas chromatography-pyrolysis-atomic fluorescence spectrometry for routine determination of total and organometallic mercury in food samples.

Two procedures have been investigated for the quantification of the different forms of mercury in food. A two-stage procedure has been developed to determine firstly total inorganic and organometallic species, and then the full separation of all organomercury species. The procedure involves solubilisation of the samples using alkaline extractions or enzymolysis, followed by the extraction of organic mercury in an organic solvent, preferably a mixture of dichloromethane and hexane (3:2).