“An assessment of chemical and biological significance of arsenical species in the Maurice River Drainage Basin (N.J.). Part I. Distribution in water and river and lake sediments.”

Abstract

Levels of arsenic were determined in the bottom sediments and waters of the Maurice River, Blackwater Branch, and Union Lake, (N.J.) that were contaminated by a local chemical industry. This was the only known source of the arsenic. Levels of total arsenic in the sediments and waters were determined quarterly over the course of one year. Sediments were extracted for water soluble and total extractable arsenic fractions and partitioned into four species: monomethylarsonic acid (MMAA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA), arsenite [As(III)], and arsenate [As(V)]. In Union Lake at a shallow sandy sediment site, As (V) predominates. In organic sediments, As (III) or (V) predominate depending upon the dissolved oxygen content of the overlying waters. The oxidation state of the arsenic was affected also by the seasonal lake cycles of stratifying or mixing.