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Certified reference materials for arsenic species in biological materials
Both arsenite and arsenate accumulate in biological tissues because of their affinity for proteins, lipids and other cellular compounds. The ability of aquatic organisms to transform inorganic arsenic into complex organoarsenicals appears to be retained along the food chain. More than 25 arsenic species have been reported in biological tissues. The interest in arsenic speciation results from the complex metabolism and the great differences in the toxicity of the different species. In general, organo-arsenic compounds are significantly less toxic than inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic speciation therefore plays a role in differentiating the exposure routes for humans (occupational exposure, water, seafood).
The main issues to be controlled during the analysis of biological materials for the speciation analysis of arsenic are:
- quantitativeness of extraction of the species of interest from the tissue
- preservation of the different species during the analysis
- mass balance with respect to arsenic species determined
CRMs play a major role in the development and validation of
methods and for quality control. The following certified reference
materials (CRMs) are available for speciation analysis:
Supplier
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Name
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Material
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Certificate
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| NIES | NIES-14 | Brown algae | [inorganic arsenic] |
NIES
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NIES-18
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Freeze-dried human urine
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Total arsenic, arsenobetaine, Dimethylarsinic acid, Se, Zn
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NIST
| SRM 2669
| Frozen human urine
| total arsenic, monomethylarsonic acis (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA),trimethylarsine oxide, arsenobetaine, arsenocholine
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* () =information value only, []= original certification no longer valid
NB:! click on the suppliers name to reach his record within EVISA's company database, click on the
material name for a link to EVISA's material database.
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