Determination of trace amounts of arsenic species in natural waters by high-performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Using directly coupled ion-pair, reversed-phase, high-performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, arsenic acid (AsV) was identified as a major arsenic species in spring-waters and bottled mineral waters. Spring-waters were collected from a volcanic area in the centre of France and bottled waters were purchased from local supermarkets. Two bottled waters also contained traces of arsenious acid (AsIII); no monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) or dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) were characterized in the samples. Using this developed method, six arsenic species were determined with limits of detection sufficiently low to study the chemical species at their naturally occurring concentration levels. Detection limits were in the range of 1.0–3.0 µg l–1 and a good mass balance was obtained with total As content in samples determined by a hydride generation system.