Determination of Arsenic and Selenium by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Demonstration of Speciation of Organometallic Compounds

Arsenic and selenium are interesting elements from the analytical chemist\u27s point of view. With the growth in the use of arsenic in fungicides and in insecticides has also come the dangers associated with arsenic as a poison. There are hazards associated with the use of arsenic in the industry. One particular hazard is the danger of formation of arsine, whenever hydrogen is being evolved in an industrial process. Smelting of arsenical ores, manufacture of paints, dyes, insecticides, fungi­cides, drugs, felt hats, canning lids are among the various industries in which arsenic is a hazard. Arsenic poisoning is not due to the arsenic derived from a single source, but the combined effect of arsenic taken in from a multiplicity of sources, and in a great variety of forms. One of the most important sources of arsenic is the arsenic present in foods. Some of this is the so-called \u27natural\u27 arsenic found in marine food products such as fish and lobster. Arsine poisoning is easily diagnosed, for it is one of the very few hemolytic poisons encount­ered in industry