Determination of arsenic bioavailability in mineral springs in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Mineral springs Hronovka and Regnerka located in the northeast Bohemia, Czech Republic are characteristic for high content of arsenic. The diffusive gradient in thin films technique (DGT) was used for determination of arsenic bioavailable fraction in both mineral water samples. Despite the high concentration of iron in both mineral water, the arsenic content measured by DGT (cDGT) corresponded to the total arsenic concentration measured directly by ET-AAS in the grab sample of mineral water (cGRAB) with the final ratio cDGT/cGRAB 1.09 for Hronovka, and 1.06 for Regnerka. These results indicate that the composition of the mineral water prevents the complexation of arsenic and iron and so arsenic in tested spring waters is completely bioavailable.