Arsenic speciation in scallops

The arsenic species present in the muscle and the gonad of scallops collected near Newfoundland were characterized by using high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS). The adductor muscle of the scallops (2.1–9.4 μg As g−1) contains arsenobetaine (AsB) as the major water-soluble arsenic compound. The gonads of the scallops (7.3–44.1 μg As g−1) contain dimethylarsinoylriboside derivatives as the major arsenic compound, as well as lower amounts of AsB. No inorganic arsenic species was detected in the sample extracts indicating that consumption of the scallops poses little human risk.