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Journal ArticleDOI

The Ecology of Arsenic

Ronald S. Oremland, +1 more
- 09 May 2003 - 
- Vol. 300, Iss: 5621, pp 939-944
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TLDR
This work reviews what is known about arsenic-metabolizing bacteria and their potential impact on speciation and mobilization of arsenic in nature and investigates their role in aquifers.
Abstract
Arsenic is a metalloid whose name conjures up images of murder. Nonetheless, certain prokaryotes use arsenic oxyanions for energy generation, either by oxidizing arsenite or by respiring arsenate. These microbes are phylogenetically diverse and occur in a wide range of habitats. Arsenic cycling may take place in the absence of oxygen and can contribute to organic matter oxidation. In aquifers, these microbial reactions may mobilize arsenic from the solid to the aqueous phase, resulting in contaminated drinking water. Here we review what is known about arsenic-metabolizing bacteria and their potential impact on speciation and mobilization of arsenic in nature.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Arsenic remobilization from sediments contaminated with mine tailings near the Adak mine in Västerbotten district (northern Sweden)

TL;DR: In this paper, microcosm experiments indicate that microorganisms are capable of surviving in As-rich sediments and reduce As(V) to As(III) species in the oxic surface and ground water samples.
Journal ArticleDOI

Biological As(III) oxidation in rapid sand filters

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether arsenic-oxidising bacteria (AsOB) will grow and survive in rapid sand filters and found that biological As(III) oxidation rapidly developed in the rapid sand filter columns.
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Climatic variations and de-coupling between arsenic and iron in arsenic contaminated ground water in the lowlands of Nepal.

TL;DR: According to the results presented in this article, As and Fe concentrations in ground water in the lowlands (Terai) of Nepal are highly variable as a function of location and there is a de-coupling of As andFe concentrations resulting in a loss of correlation between these two elements.
Journal ArticleDOI

Rapid analysis of volatile arsenic species released from lake sediment by a packed cotton column coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry

TL;DR: In this paper, a short packed cotton column was found effective to separate volatile arsenicals (AsH3, CH3AsH2, (CH3)2AsH and (CH 3)3As) rapidly.
Journal ArticleDOI

Microbially Mediated Methylation of Arsenic in the Arsenic-Rich Soils and Sediments of Jianghan Plain

TL;DR: The results indicated that the microbial communities in all of the samples significantly catalyzed arsenic methylation, suggesting that new As-methylating microorganisms are widely distributed in the samples from shallow to deep sediments.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

A review of the source, behaviour and distribution of arsenic in natural waters

TL;DR: The scale of the problem in terms of population exposed to high As concentrations is greatest in the Bengal Basin with more than 40 million people drinking water containing ‘excessive’ As as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI

Worldwide Occurrences of Arsenic in Ground Water

TL;DR: Nordstrom et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that human health risks from arsenic in ground water can be minimized by incorporating hydrogeochemical knowledge into water management decisions and by more careful monitoring for arsenic in geologically high-risk areas.
Journal ArticleDOI

Arsenic poisoning of Bangladesh groundwater

TL;DR: Sedimentological study of the Ganges alluvial sediments shows that the arsenic derives from the reductive dissolution of arsenic-rich iron oxyhydroxides, which in turn are derived from weathering of base-metal sulphides.
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