Arsenic is the 20th most abundant element of the Earth’s crust and over 245 arsenic-bearing minerals are known. The two most common forms of arsenic in the terrestrial environment are arsenite, AsO33-, and arsenate, AsO43-. Arsenic exists in the reduced form, As(III), in groundwater and oxygen-poor environments, but in the oxidized form, As(V), in surface waters and oxygen rich environments. Iron complicates the chemistry of arsenic further by forming insoluble Fe(III) complexes with As(V). As(III) remains soluble in the presence of Fe(III) and is transported through groundwater. The last factors affecting environmental arsenic levels are large-scale agricultural releases of synthetic arsenic compounds to soil and mining operations that expose arsenic minerals to surface waters. Our research group has collected soil and water samples from throughout the Verde Valley in an effort to identify sources of unusually high arsenic levels and understand the arsenic transport mechanism for the Verde Valley. A study of the behavior of arsenic in Montezuma’s Well was completed with the assistance of Professor Dean Blinn, NAU Biological Sciences Department. This study traced the movement of arsenic through three trophic levels in the Montezuma Well food-web. Our most recent work has been to study the effect of adding Roxarsone by-products to agricultural soils through the application of poultry manure. Roxarsone is an arsenic-containing additive to poultry feed, and poultry manure contains Roxarsone by-products. Poultry manure is used to fertilize agricultural soils wherever large populations of poultry are raised.

Environmental arsenic studies as a way to introduce undergraduates to research

255th National Meeting (2018)

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