Abstract
Recent studies indicate the existence in natural waters of ‘hidden’ arsenic which had previously been undetected by the hydride generation technique. A speciation method for arsenic species has been developed in which hidden arsenic was classified into two fractions by their lability to the photochemical degradation procedure: the ultraviolet-labile fraction and the ultravioletresistant fraction. The ultraviolet-labile fraction was the major fraction of hidden arsenic and comprised 15‐45% and 4‐26% of the total arsenic in Uranouchi Inlet and Lake Biwa (Japan), respectively. The highest concentration of the ultraviolet-resistant fraction was observed in Uranouchi Inlet during the summer, in which dimethylarsinic acid increased in the water column. We discuss the hidden arsenic fraction as the key to explaining arsenic speciation in natural waters. Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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