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INTRODUCTION

Arsenic is the chemical element with the ‘As’ symbol, atomic number33 and atomic mass

is 74.92. Arsenic is notoriously poisonous metalloid, and has been known and used as a poison

for centuries. It is mostly been widely used as pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides containing

arsenic in both organic and inorganic forms, but these applications are declining. Arsenic occurs

in many minerals, mainly associated with sulphur and metals; which it also been used as an

alloying agent for lead batteries and electronic manufacturing. Arsenic is also as wood

preservatives, dyes, paints, pigmenting substances both in human and animal medication and

care products and present in many food supplement products.

CHARECTERISTICS

Chemical and Physical Properties

In pure form, arsenic is tasteless, odourless white powder. Arsenic is generally formed

combined with oxygen, chlorine or sulphur. It is not found in pure form in the environment.

These inorganic mineral forms of arsenic are generally toxic than its more complex organic

compounds found naturally in animal tissues, especially in fish and seafoods.

1. Chemical Properties

Arsenic is very similar chemically to its predecessor in the Periodic Table; Phosphorus.

Similar with phosphorus, it forms colourless, odourless crystalline oxides As 2O3 and As2O5

which are hygroscopic and water soluble to form acidic solutions, in which arsenic (V) acid is

a weak acid. It is also similar to phosphorus, as it forms an unstable gaseous hydride Arsine

(AsH3). Due to the similarity, arsenic will partly substitute for phosphorus in biochemical

reaction and thus poisonous.

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Arsenic oxidizes to arsenic trioxide when heated in the air, and the reaction will produces

fumes that have an odour resembling garlic. This odour can be detected on striking arsenide

minerals such as arsenopyrite with a hammer. Arsenic sublimes upon heating at atmosphere

pressure, converting directly to a gaseous form without an intervening liquid state. The

liquid state appears at 20 atmosphere and above, which explain why the melting point is

higher than the boiling point.

2. Physical Properties

The most common allotrope of arsenic is grey arsenic. It adopts a layered structure, a

ruffled analogue of graphite, consisting of many interlocked six-membered rings. Each atom

is bound to three other atoms in the layer and is coordinated by each 3 arsenic atoms in the

upper and lower layer. This relatively close packing leads to a high density of 5.73 g/cm3.

Figure 1 Structure of yellow arsenic As4 and white phosphorus P4

Similar phosphorus, arsenic exhibits allotropy, although only the gray allotrope is important

under normal conditions. The three most common allotropes are metallic grey, yellow and

black arsenic. Yellow arsenic (As4) is soft and waxy, somewhat is slightly similar to P4. Both

have four atoms arranged in a tetrahedral structure in which each atom is bound to each of

the other three atoms by a single bond. This unstable allotrope, being molecular, is the
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most volatile, least dense, and most toxic. Yellow arsenic is produced by a rapid cooling of

arsenic vapour, for example with liquid nitrogen. It is rapidly transformed into the grey

arsenic by light. The yellow form has a density of 1.97 g/cm 3. Black arsenic is similar in

structure basis to red phosphorus. Three metalloidal forms of arsenic, each with a different

structure, are found free in nature (the minerals arsenic sensu stricto and the much rarer

arsenolamprite and pararsenolamprite).

ARSENIC POISONING

Arsenic poisonous kills by allosteric inhibition of essential metabolic enzymes, leading to

death from multi-system organ failure. The process primarily inhibits enzymes that require lipoic

acid as a cofactor such as pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Due to this

substrates before the dehydrogenase steps accumulate , such as pyruvate (and lactate). It

particularly affects the brain and causing neurological disturbances and death.

Source of Arsenic

The abundant natural source of arsenic is the Earth’s crust. It is presents in the more

than 200 different minerals. Minerals with formula MAsS and MAs 2 (M as Fe, Ni or Co) are the

dominant commercial sources of arsenic together with realgar and native As. The most common

arsenic present in minerals is called arsenoyrite, which is structurally related to iron pyrite.

About one-third of arseninc in the Earth’s atmosphere is naturally origin. The naturally occurring

pathways of exposure include volcanic ash from volcanic action, weathering of the arsenic-

containing minerals, ores and vapour that is generated from solid or liquid forms of arsenic salts

at low temperature, as well as groundwater. Soils and rocks in certain areas contain arsenic
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that can leach into water as erosion occurs. Some arsenic-containing rock is found well below

the surface of the ground, and well water may be affected by the arsenic. In some places, the

principle source of arsenic in surface water and groundwater is believed to be native rocks and

soil, particularly those of volcanic origin.

Figure 2 A large sample of native arsenic

Figure 3 Realgar
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Since there are many manmade arsenical products and by-products, arsenic also present

in the environment because of the usage. Arsenic trioxide is commercially produces elemental

arsenic. Arsenic trioxide is a by-product of metal smelting process. Approximately 70% of the

world production of arsenic is used in timber treatment, 22% in agricultural chemicals and the

rest is from glass, pharmaceuticals and metallic alloys. Mining, metal smelting and burning of

fossil fuels are the major industrial processes that contribute to arsenic contamination in air,

water and soil. The use of arsenic-containing pesticides in the past may contains persistent

residual level and left large areas of agricultural land contaminated. Waste disposal sites contain

arsenical products can affect local soil which would end up leach into water and contaminate

the ground water. Industrial processes can produce arsenic in liquid waste discharges and in air

emissions, and also areas contaminated with industrial paint or with household paint dust may

contain significant levels of arsenic. Other than that, the use of arsenic in the preservation of

timber has also led to contamination of the environment.

Arsenic is a basic element, thus it cannot be destroyed. It simply changes forms and

moves around in the environment, which is generally diluted and moved by air and by water. It

may stay in soil or water for a very long time, and it may or may not travel through soil. Some

plants absorb arsenic into their tissues. Plants including sea-living plants and animal normally

contain arsenic residues. These are generated from inorganic form of arsenic, either by

microbes or by the plants and animals themselves. Arsenic can build up or bio-accumulate in

the bodies of aquatic organisms, particularly those living in the sea. Land-living plants may

accumulate arsenic via uptake through the roots from the soils or by the deposition of airborne

arsenic on the leaves. Arsenic levels are higher in living organisms collected near man-made

sources of arsenic or in areas with volcanic activity. Thus, arsenic may enter the human body

by ingestion or may be inhaled into the lungs. It can also be absorbed from the digestive tract
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and from the lung then carried to all parts of the body in the bloodstream. The liver may

converts absorbed arsenic to less hazardous forms and the kidneys remove it by urination

process. The detoxification and elimination processes take time, and harmful organs occur

during this time. If greater amounts of arsenic are absorbed than the body can detoxify and

eliminate, the body may develop an increasing burden of arsenic.

TOXICITY AND EFFECTS OF ARSENIC TO HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENT

The toxicity of arsenic and its compound is highly variable. The organic forms of arsenic

compound appear to have a lower toxicity than inorganic forms of arsenic. Research has shown

that arsenates (trivalent forms) have higher acute toxicity than arsenates (pentavialent form).

The acute minimal dose of arsenic in adults is estimated to be 70 to 200 mg or 1 mg/kg/day.

The most reported arsenic poisonings are caused by one of arsenics compounds, also found in

drinking water, arsenic trioxide which is 500 times more toxic than pure arsenic.

Occurrences of general population expose to arsenic are mainly through food and water.

Arsenic in food is mainly in the form of organic arsenic, which is as mentioned above; have a

lower toxicity than inorganic forms of arsenic. The amount of arsenic absorbed into the body

from all sources can be assessed on an individual basis by measuring the concentration of

inorganic arsenic and its metabolites in urine. Generally, it ranges from 5 to 20 µg arsenic per

liter of urine, but may even exceed 1000 µg/L.

The symptoms of arsenic poisoning begin with headaches, confusion and drowsiness. As

the poisoning develops, convulsions and changes in fingernail pigmentation may occur. When

the poisoning starts to become acute, symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, blood in

urine, cramping muscles, hair loss, stomach pain, and more convulsions. The organs of the

body that are usually affected by arsenic poisoning are the lungs, skin, kidneys, and liver.
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The final result of arsenic poisoning is coma or death. Long-term exposure to arsenic in

drinking water can cause cancer in the skin, lungs, bladder and kidney. It can also cause

other skin changes such as thickening and pigmentation. The likelihood or occurrences of

effects is related to the level of exposure to arsenic and in areas where drinking water is

severely contaminated, these effects can be seen in many individuals in the population.

Increased risk of lung and bladder cancer and skin changes have been reported in

people ingesting arsenic in drinking water at concentration of 50 µg/litre, or even lower. As

regards the possible method by which arsenic causes cancer, the evidence in humans

indicates that arsenic can cause damage to whole chromosomes (clastogenic effects) but

does not appear to cause damage to individual genes. 

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References:

1. Matschullat, Jörg (2000). "Arsenic in the geosphere — a review". The Science of the Total

Environment 249 (1-3): 297–312.

2. Vahidnia, A.; Van Der Voet, G. B.; De Wolff, F. A. (2007). "Arsenic neurotoxicity - a review".

Human & experimental toxicology 26 (10): 823–32.

3. R. Baselt, Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man , 8th edition, Biomedical

Publications, Foster City, CA, 2008, pp. 106-110.

4. Gokcen, N. A (1989). "The As (arsenic) system". Bull. Alloy Phase Diagrams 10: 11–22.