Studies on the speciation of inorganic and organic antimony compounds in airborne particulate matter by HPLC-ICP-MS

There is a considerably increasing concern about the speciation of antimony because anthropogenic emission has resulted in an increasing concentration of antimony in the environment. Apart from inorganic Sb species, methylated Sb species have been detected in a variety of environmental samples. However, little is known about the distribution of Sb species in airborne particulate matter (APM). The speciation of Sb species in APM was performed using both anion-exchange and size-exclusion HPLC-ICP-MS detection. A Japanese quality control sample for APM (AS-1, 92 mu g g(-1) Sb) and an APM sample collected in Tokyo (APM sample, 56 mu g g(-1) Sb) were investigated. In aqueous extracts of APM sample and AS-1, apart from the major Sb(v) species (ca. 80%), trimethylantimony species (TMSb) and several hydride active unknown Sb species were for the first time detected.