Speciation Analysis of Arsenic, Chromium and Selenium in Aquatic Media

This publication presents the results of a project analysing the speciation of As+3/As+5, Cr+3/Cr+6 and Se+4/Se+6 in water samples. Total element concentration does generally not provide adequate information to understand the effects of trace and heavy metals observed in the environment and in living systems. The toxicity, bioavailability, physiological and metabolic processes, and the mobility and fate of elements are, to a large extent, dependent on the specific chemical form of an element. Speciation analysis has yet to be developed to its full potential for biochemical, clinical and environmental investigations, and still more work is needed in the near future. However, nuclear techniques, particularly the use of radioisotopes, can help in method development, optimization and stability tests of chemical species.