Detection of Arsenic in Water, Herbal and Soil Samples by Neutron Activation Analysis Technique

Abstract

Arsenic contamination of ground water is well understood while other environmental systems are rarely considered to be contaminated by arsenic. A vital issue is whether or not appreciable arsenic transmits through the food chain. Reportedly, ayurvedic herbal medicine products (AHMPs) manufactured in Asia were found to be contaminated by harmful level of Arsenic. This study was aimed to quantify the arsenic levels in water, herbal and soil samples collected from the same origin using highly accurate neutron activation analysis (NAA) technique. Harmful level of arsenic was detected in most of the water and soil samples. Moreover, a considerably harmful level of Arsenic was detected in herbal samples collected from the same origin. As a result, AHMPs manufactured in Asia might be contaminated by arsenic through arsenic contaminated herb plants.

Recent advances in electrochemical detection of arsenic in drinking and ground waters

“…The results obtained by ASV must be corroborated with those of reference analytical methods including neutron activation analysis. 84 The component of environmental groundwater is complex and different from location to location. It includes various metal ions and organic compounds which have been proven to affect the arsenic response signal.…”

An application of miniaturized electrochemical sensing for determination of arsenic in herbal medicines

“…A previous report showed that As contamination in Bangladesh was typically found to be 0.18-0.79 ppm. 5 Meanwhile, many countries set the guidelines about As content in plant samples, e.g., Food Standards Australia New Zealand (1.0 ppm) and 6 the Food and Drug Administration of Thailand (2.0 ppm). 7 Previously, diverse sensitive techniques have been established and successfully applied for the determination of As, such as ion chromatography, 8,9 atomic absorption spectroscopy, 10,11 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, 12,13 and neutron activation analysis.…”

“…7 Previously, diverse sensitive techniques have been established and successfully applied for the determination of As, such as ion chromatography, 8,9 atomic absorption spectroscopy, 10,11 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, 12,13 and neutron activation analysis. 5 However, these techniques still showed several limitations, such as large-scale and expensive instruments, complications in performing the methods, and being time-consuming. Hence, a simple and inexpensive analytical approach for the determination of As in herbal medicines is necessary, particularly in limited-resource settings.…”

“…A previous report showed that As contamination in Bangladesh was typically found to be 0.18–0.79 ppm. 5 Meanwhile, many countries set the guidelines about As content in plant samples, e.g. , Food Standards Australia New Zealand (1.0 ppm) and 6 the Food and Drug Administration of Thailand (2.0 ppm).…”

Spectrophotometric determination of arsenic in soil samples using 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-di-ethylaminophenol (Br-PADAP)

“…There are several accepted analytical methods currently available for arsenic measurement in environmental samples. These include hydride generation atomic absor-ption spectrometry (HGAAS) [6], neutron activation [7], inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICPAES) [8]. However, these methods require comparatively expensive equipment and are not readily amenable to portable instrumentation.…”