Direct Determination of Total Arsenic and Arsenic Species by Ion Chromatography Coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

The simultaneous determination of As(III), As(V), and DMA has been performed by ion chromatography (IC) coupled with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The separation of the three arsenic species was achieved by an anionic separator column (AS 7) with an isocratic elution system. The separated species were directly detected by ICP-MS as an element-selective detection method. The IC-ICP-MS technique was applied for the determination of arsenic species in a NIST SRM 1643d water sample. An As(III) only was detected in the sample. The detection limits of As(III), As(V) and DMA were 0.31, 0.45, and 2.09 ng/mL, respectively. It was also applied for the determination of arsenic species in a human urine obtained by a volunteer, and three arsenic species were identified. The determination of total As in human urines that were obtained from 25 volunteers at the different age was also carried out by ICP-MS.