Organo-arsenic compounds, specifically roxarsone and p-arsanilic acid, are common ingredients in both swine and poultry feed. The workers that package the feed are exposed to these organo-arsenic compounds, which can cause irritation to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. To protect the health of the feed workers, methods of detection for these compounds are needed. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) has proven to be a successful method. The current research is focused on determining a sampling media/device that will accurately collect both roxarsone and p-arsanilic acid. Two different types of filters, spiked with the compounds, have been tested for their percent recoveries; polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and glass fiber filters. The two types of filters were spiked with various amounts of these organo-arsenic compounds, ranging in concentration from 0.1 x the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) to 2 x PEL. Test results show that the filters have produced percent recoveries between 83.31 and 99.33%. Preliminary work shows that the PVC filters generally produce higher percent recoveries compared to the glass fiber filters. Linear absorbance trends and the instrumental limit of detection (LOD) have been determined for both roxarsone and p-arsanilic acid. Storage and stability tests will be run for both filters and both compounds. If time allows, other sampling devices, such as sorbent tubes, will be tested for their percent recoveries with both roxarsone and p-arsanilic acid.

Method of collection and detection for airbourne organo-arsenic compounds

249th National Meeting (2015)

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