Bioavailability, Bioaccesibility of Heavy Metal Elements and Speciation of as in Contaminated Areas of Chile

Abstract

Studies on the bioavailability of As, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn and Cd of impacted soils; the As bioaccesibility in the edible parts of carrots, beets and quinoa growing in these polluted soils thought “in vitro” gastrointestinal process; the As speciation both in the edible parts of vegetables and in their gastrointestinal extracts have been performed. Elemental analysis and As speciation have been performed by ICP-MS and LC-ICP-MS, respectively. The high As contents in the interchangeable and oxidized fractions of soil may be responsible for the high As species content in these high vegetables consumption. The Arsenic recovery after the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion was from 98, 90 and 40% for carrots, beets and quinoa, respectively; with no significant transformation of original As species. These studies provide a clearer understanding of the impact that As and other contaminant elements may present in the population of this high polluted Chilean region.