Biovolatilisation: a poorly studied pathway of the arsenic biogeochemical cycle

Mestrot, Adrien; Planer-Friedrich, Britta; Feldmann, Jörg (2013). Biovolatilisation: a poorly studied pathway of the arsenic biogeochemical cycle. Environmental science: processes & impacts, 15(9), pp. 1639-1651. Royal Society of Chemistry 10.1039/C3EM00105A

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It has been known for over a hundred years that microorganisms can produce volatile arsenic (As) species, termed “arsines”. However, this topic has received relatively little attention compared to As behaviour in soils and biotransformation through the trophic level in the marine and terrestrial environment. We believe this is due to long-standing misconceptions regarding volatile As stability and transport as well as an absence, until recently, of appropriate sampling methods. First and foremost, an attempt is made to unify arsines' designations, notations and formulas, taking into account all the different terms used in the literature. Then, the stability of As volatile species is discussed and new analytical developments are explored. Further, the special cases of diffuse low-level emissions (e.g. soil and sediment biovolatilisation), and point sources with high-level emissions (geothermal environments, landfills, and natural gas) are comprehensively reviewed. In each case, future possible areas of research and unknown mechanisms are identified and their importance towards the global As biogeochemical cycle is explored. This review gathers new information regarding mechanisms, stability, transport and sampling of the very elusive arsines and shows that more research should be conducted on this important process.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Physical Geography > Unit Soil Science
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography

UniBE Contributor:

Mestrot, Adrien

Subjects:

900 History > 910 Geography & travel

ISSN:

2050-7887

Publisher:

Royal Society of Chemistry

Language:

English

Submitter:

Monika Wälti-Stampfli

Date Deposited:

16 Jan 2014 11:07

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:27

Publisher DOI:

10.1039/C3EM00105A

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.39644

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/39644

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