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When water level drops and sulfide minerals are exposed to air, arsenic trapped in sulfide minerals can be released into water. When organic carbon is present in water, bacteria are fed by directly reducing As(V) to As(III) or by reducing the element at the binding site, releasing inorganic arsenic.
Arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. [4] If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting , abdominal pain , encephalopathy , and watery diarrhea that contains blood . [ 1 ]
Arsenic is a moderately abundant element in Earth's crust, and although many arsenic compounds are often considered highly toxic to most life, a wide variety of organoarsenic compounds are produced biologically and various organic and inorganic arsenic compounds are metabolized by numerous organisms.
A blood agent is a toxic chemical agent that affects the body by being absorbed into the blood. [1] Blood agents are fast-acting, potentially lethal poisons that typically manifest at room temperature as volatile colorless gases with a faint odor. [1] They are either cyanide- or arsenic-based. [1]
The arsenic (As) cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of natural and anthropogenic exchanges of arsenic terms through the atmosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Although arsenic is naturally abundant in the Earth's crust, long-term exposure and high concentrations of arsenic can be detrimental to human health. [1] [2]
In its standard state arsine is a colorless, denser-than-air gas that is slightly soluble in water (2% at 20 °C) [1] and in many organic solvents as well. [citation needed] Arsine itself is odorless, [5] but it oxidizes in air and this creates a slight garlic or fish-like scent when the compound is present above 0.5 ppm. [6]
Adding a sample of tissue or body fluid to a glass vessel with zinc and acid would produce arsine gas if arsenic was present, in addition to the hydrogen that would be produced regardless by the zinc reacting with the acid. Igniting this gas mixture would oxidize any arsine present into arsenic and water vapor.
Arsenic forms colorless, odorless, crystalline oxides As 2 O 3 ("white arsenic") and As 2 O 5 which are hygroscopic and readily soluble in water to form acidic solutions. Arsenic(V) acid is a weak acid and the salts are called arsenates , [ 5 ] the most common arsenic contamination of groundwater , and a problem that affects many people.