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Methylation and demethylation of arsenic may change substantially the toxicity and mobility of arsenic in soils. Little is known about demethylation of organic arsenic species in organic soils. We incubated dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and arsenobetaine (AsB) in soils and aqueous soil extracts from a forest floor and fen, in order to investigate demethylation processes. Incubations were conducted at 5°C in the dark under oxic or anoxic conditions. Arsenobetaine demethylated rapidly in all soil extracts with half-lives of 3.6-12 days, estimated from first order kinetic. Demethylation of DMA was relatively slow with half-lives of 187 and 46 days in the forest floor extracts and oxic fen extracts, respectively. In comparison, DMA was stable for 100 days in anoxic fen extracts. The apparent half-lives were much shorter in soils for DMA (1.3-12.6 days) and AsB (0.5-1.9 days) than in soil extracts, suggesting also irreversible AsB and DMA adsorption to soils beside demethylation. An unknown arsenic species and DMA were detected as metabolites of AsB demethylation. The results indicate rapid demethylation of AsB probably via the pathway AsB → Dimethylarsenoylacetate → DMA, followed up by slow demethylation of DMA → monomethylarsonic acid → inorganic As species.

Estrone-3-sulfate (E1-3S), formed in the kidneys of pregnant cattle, can act as a precursor to the free hormone estrone (E1) known for its endocrine disrupting potential in wildlife. Laboratory microcosm studies were conducted to investigate the aerobic degradation of E1-3S in three contrasting pasture soils at 7.5, 15, and 25 degrees C. Deconjugation of E1-3S resulted in the formation of the metabolite E1. Two kinetic models-a single first-order and a biexponential kinetic model-were applied to fit the observed degradation dynamics and to derive degradation end-points (DT50 and DT90) for the parent compound and the metabolite for each condition. Model selection and evaluation of their performance were based on a suit of statistical measures (one-way ANOVA, AIC(c), R2(adj), chi2 error-%, and SRMSE). The results showed rapid initial degradation of E1-3S, followed by a much slower decline with time, and rate of degradation was temperature dependent. The DT50 and DT90 values of E1-3S ranged from a few hours to several days, while the formation of the major metabolite (E1) was concomitant with E1-3S degradation in all nonsterile soils. The parent compound degradation and formation and subsequent dissipation of metabolite were successfully predicted by both models, however, the nonlinear biexponential model improved the goodness-of-fit parameters in most cases.

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Abstract-Estrone (E1) and its sulfate conjugate estrone-3-sulfate (E1-3S) are released to the environment in animal wastes in significant amounts, and direct exposure occurs in grazed pasture systems. Both compounds have been shown to potentially contribute to endocrine disruption in wildlife, and knowledge about the sorption behavior of these compounds is necessary for a sound risk assessment. For labile compounds such as E1 and E1-3S, however, the standard protocols might overestimate sorption by not considering metabolite formation or allowing for equilibration that exceeds the commonly reported half-lives of these compounds. We therefore conducted modified batch sorption experiments with 0.005 M calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) and artificial urine solution to determine the influence of the mediator solution on the sorption of E1 and E1-3S in three pasture soils from New Zealand. Sorption isotherms of both compounds were nonlinear, and the Freundlich equation was found adequate to describe the isotherms. The sorption potential of E1-3S was about one order of magnitude lower than for the free counterpart, and the K f values significantly changed between the two mediator solutions. The calculation of concentration-dependent effective distribution coefficients (K eff d ) revealed that for a range of realistic exposure concentrations in a grazed dairy system, the common approach of using CaCl 2 would deliver incorrect inferences for a sound risk assessment.

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