Speciation analysis of As, Sb and Se

Arsenic(As), antimony(Sb) and selenium(Se) are redox-sensitive trace elements in environment. Up to date large gap in knowledge still exists with respect to their toxicity, bioavailability, adsorption and mobility due to lack of robust analytical methods allowing simultaneous speciation analysis of various species. Despite the publication of numerous analytical methods concerning As, Sb and/or Se, people seem still at a loss how to decide a proper method. In addition, previous reviews of analytical methods of these three elements concern mainly chromatography based methods, and generally only individual element was considered. We overviewed the state-of-the-art of the speciation analysis methods for the three elements, including chromatography-based methods and non-chromatographic methods, with a focus on simultaneous speciation analysis of them. All kinds of methods were elucidated from method principle in combination with specific properties of each species. This manuscript aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of speciation analysis methods, especially simultaneous speciation analysis methods for As, Sb and Se, which is also helpful for those who are interested in speciation analysis of other multi-species trace elements. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.