Review of analytical techniques for arsenic detection

Overview

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European Union (EU) have set the maximum limit of arsenic in drinking water at 10 ppb. To meet the
Centre of Applied Science for Health, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), Water covers more than 70% of our planet’s surface. Because
EPA maximum limit for arsenic in drinking water is 10 ppb.8,9
WHO guideline value of 10 ppb (Fig. 3).11,12 The most selective
environmental analysis in particular to the postgraduate the spectroscopic techniques is summarised in the Table 1.
spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spec- optimise the conditions to lower down the LOD.19 The use of
Fig. 4. All of these listed techniques can accurately perform high LOD of 0.26 ppb for a sample volume of 16 mL corresponding to
arsenic on the order of 1 part per billion (ppb). The spectro- a suitable alternative to other atomic spectrometers commonly
Table 1 Performance comparison of spectroscopic techniques for trace arsenic detection in water samples
Techniques LOD (ppb) (mL) Time (min s−1) Skills requirement Ref
(from ppb to ppm).23 ysis, arsenic is transformed to arsine gas via hydride generation,
a method where low levels of detection can be obtained. In the arsenic levels on the order of 1 ppb. However, due to the need
also oﬀers high sensitivity over a wide linear range and low and determination are shown in Fig. 5.
LODs.24 For the detection of multiple arsenic species, ICP-MS is 2.2.1. Ion chromatography (IC) or ion-exchange chroma-
solution at concentrations levels around 83 ppb.26 This sensi- the negatively charged molecules will be the rst to elute.
has a LOD of 0.7 ppb of arsenic in solution. It is possible to
already portable, which is an added benet to eld sensing.27–29
ation analysis. IPC uses a standard reversed-phase column (0.002 ppb), and stable responses over long analysis times (RSD
(C18) with ion pair reagents in the mobile phase. The charged 3.6% over a 24 h run-time). Arroyo-Abad et al. separated six
100% A (0.1% formic acid in water) to 100% B (0.1% formic acid However, SEC is very eﬀective for analysis of arsenic inter-
elution of 100% A (0.1% formic acid in water) to 100% B (0.1% arsenic from free arsenic.12 Garcı́a-Sevillano et al. used SEC to
utilised for arsenic speciation, despite the fact that it oﬀers (PARAFAC). Low LODs (0.014–0.041 ppb) were reported.54 The
analysis. Nine organoarsenicals were eﬀectively discovered by marised in the Table 2.
HILIC column with an isocratic elution, containing 90% followed by detection with diﬀerent detection techniques,
acetonitrile and 10% of 50 mM ammonium formate (pH 3), particularly in HPLC coupled in hyphenated techniques such as
Table 2 Examples of the most commonly used chromatographic techniques for arsenic determinations with some necessary details sum-
required, which is easy to prepare. In addition, dilute marised in the Table 3.
Table 3 Summary of coupled chromatographic techniques describing separation/column, detector and analyte arsenic species
Table 4 Comparison of arsenic kit based on Gutzeit method
trometer, or smartphone can be used as a digital detector. In in a high fraction (up to 68%) when groundwater samples were
table.11 The relevant literature about the commercial kits based
mercuric bromide (HgBr2). LODs of 10 ppb are possible by
Table 5 Colorimetric/spectrophotometric techniques for the deter- Some of the relevant literature on the colorimetric arsenic
mination of arsenic in water detection technique is summarised in the Table 5.
Molybdenum blue >30 min Not portable, 1–15 81 response for total inorganic arsenic is linear in the range 5–20 ppb
bulky instrument with a sensitivity of 1 ppb.13 The eﬀect of elevated temperature (of
Methylene dye ∼6 min Potentially portable 10–100 82
Sulfanilic ∼30 min Portable 18 79 and 83
Paper based Very quick Portable 1 80 and 84 Maniruzzaman recently reported the ‘detection of arsenic
detect arsenic(III) in 1 ppb due to the addition of PEG. PEG-
detect As(III) concentration up to a limit of 75 ppb. The authors
detect arsenic concentrations down to 1 ppb. towards trace determination of arsenic(III) in aqueous solution86

Methods (brief)

existing laboratory-based methods are suitable for arsenic analysis but are time-consuming, expensive and require skilled analysts and extensive sample
raphy, optical methods and mass spectrometry.2,11,12 Coupled
multi-sample analysis hence not suitable for routine moni-
toring of large numbers of samples. Therefore, rapid, cost-
Fig. 4 (A) Illustration of spectroscopic methods: AAS, ICP MS and AFS11 (reproduced from ref. 11 with permission from the Royal Society of
students, early-stage researchers and scientists. Overall, this 2.1.1. Atomic absorption spectroscopy. AAS with vapour
review will enhance awareness and appreciation of the role that generation assembly (AAS-VGA) is well known technique for the
atoms, which are responsible for the AAS absorption signal. To
do this, the AAS-attached vapor generation assembly has an acid
for arsenic determination sodium borohydride.18 Graphite furnace atomic absorption
spectrometry (GFAAS) also has the potential to detect arsenic
but the LOD is generally too high except for methods using
The general performance attributes of atomic absorption a pre-concentration or separation step. Michon et al. tried to
spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spec- optimise the conditions to lower down the LOD.19 The use of
trometry (ICP-MS) and atomic uorescence spectroscopy (AFS) a high-intensity boosted discharge hollow-cathode lamp
are illustrates for trace arsenic detection in water samples in decreased the baseline noise level and therefore allowed a lower
Fig. 4. All of these listed techniques can accurately perform high LOD of 0.26 ppb for a sample volume of 16 mL corresponding to
throughput sample analyses with good reproducibility. Most 4.2 pg As.19

Implications

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Update history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.

Commit	Date	Change	Description
b01ec52c	2026-08-04	major	2 sections added
d49e450f	2026-08-03	major	5 sections added; narrative text revised