Investigation on stability and preservation of arsenic species in iron rich water samples

Important for the accurate and reproducible determination of inorganic redox forms of arsenic in iron-rich waters is their conservation prior to analysis. Species and trace element analysis methods are commonly laboratory based. Stabilisation of samples is necessary for subsequent laboratory analysis in order to preserve the information about the system from which the samples were taken. Pre-treatment procedures based on complexation of metal ions and moderate acidification of the samples are presented. The concentration of the stabilisation agent and the storage temperature were optimised. The most satisfactory results were obtained with 0.01 mol l−1 phosphoric acid and a storage at 6 °C.