Determination of As(III) and arsenic(V) in natural waters by cathodic stripping voltammetry at a hanging mercury drop electrode

A simple, fast and quantitative method was developed for the determination of As(III) and total inorganic arsenic (As (total)) in natural spring and mineral waters using square wave cathodic stripping voltammetry (SWCSV) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE). In the determination of As(III), pre-concentration was carried out on the electrode from a solution of I mol/l HCl in the presence of 45 ppm of Cu(II) at a potential of -0.39 V versus Ag/AgCl, and the deposited intermetallic compound was reduced at a potential of about -0.82 V versus Ag/AgCl. In the determination of As (total) the pre-concentration was carried out in I mol/l HCl in the presence of 400 ppm of Cu(II) at a potential of -0.40 V versus Ag/AgCl, and the intermetallic compound deposited was reduced at a potential of about -0.76 V versus Ag/AgCl. For determination of As(III) the quantification limit was 0.2 ppb for a deposition time of 40 s, and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was calculated to be 6% (n = 13) for a solution with 8 ppb of As(III). For As (total), the quantification limit was 2 ppb for a deposition time of 3 min, and the R.S.D. was calculated to be 3% (n = 10) for a solution with 8 ppb of As(V). The method was validated by application of recovery and duplicate tests in the measurements of As(III) and As (total) in natural spring and mineral waters. For As (total), the results of the SWCSV method were compared with the results obtained by optical emission spectrometry with ICP coupled to hydride generation (OES-ICP-HG) good correlation being observed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.