Three commercially available filtering media were evaluated for the collection of airborne particulates of the organoarsenicals monomethylarsonic-acid (124583) (MMA), dimethylarsenic-acid (144218) (DMA), and p-aminophenylarsonic-acid (APA). Filtering media tested were 0.8 micrometer (microm) pore size cellulose ester membranes, 1microm pore size Fluoropore, and 5microm pore size Mitex. Ion exchange chromatography followed by continuous generation of the arsine derivatives and atomic absorption were used for separation and analysis of the compounds of interest. The contribution of vapor forms of organoarsenicals to the total atmospheric concentration was also examined. MMA, DMA, and APA were placed in an impinger heated to 122 degrees-F, and air drawn over them was sampled for total arsenic content. The extent to which any organoarsenical vapors were generated was below the analytical detection limits, so only particulate forms of these compounds were sought further. Filters were spiked with MMA, DMA, APA, arsenic(III) and arsenic(V), allowed to dry, extracted ultrasonically in deionized water or acid or basic medium and stored and analyzed over a period of 1 week. Filters were then spiked with combinations of the organoarsenicals and analyzed against calibration standards. Mixed aerosols containing the organoarsenicals were generated and collected to test collection efficiency. Effects of high temperature and 95 percent relative humidity were also examined. Filter extracts changed drastically unless stored in acetate or borate buffers under refrigeration. Percent recoveries from cellulose ester filters were poor, 62 to 78 percent, while they exceeded 90 percent for Fluoropore and Mitex. Collection efficiency of the Fluoropore filters was better than 99 percent while that of Mitex was about 65 percent, due to the large pore size. No significant effects of temperature or humidity were demonstrated. The authors conclude that the efficiency of the Fluoropore filters is as good as the traditionally used cellulose ester filters and in addition, Fluoropore filters are inert towards the various organoarsenical species.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.