A routine ion chromatography ICP-MS method for the analysis of arsenic species applicable in the food industry

Arsenic is present in foods in the form of various organic and inorganic sp ecies of low to high toxicity. Future legislative limits may well be based on those arsenic species, which are of toxicological concern, such as As(II I) and As(V). A routine method of analysis is presented involving coupled i on-chromatography-ICP-MS , which permits the analysis of some of the most i mportant toxic arsenic species. Arsenic species were extracted from various food products with aqueous meth anol (1:1). The same products were also wet-oxidized with nitric acid using the High Pressure Asher system for total arsenic determination for compari son purposes. An anion-exchange column was used to separate five arsenic sp ecies with an ICP-MS used as an arsenic-specific detector. The coupled anal ytical method is very sensitive and ppt levels can be reached. Moreover, th e method is fast (separation of five species in five minutes), robust, and automated. These analytical characteristics are particulary interesting for a routine environment. The data presented are from a range of commercial food products and ingredi ents. Certified reference material (DOLT-1/dogfish liver, DOLT-2/dogfish li ver, NBS-50/Albacore tuna, and NIST1568a/rice flour) were also analyzed.