Off-campus FIU users: To download campus-access content, please use the following link to log in to our proxy server with your FIU library username and password.

Non-FIU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this content through interlibrary loan.

Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. DeEtta K. Mills

Second Advisor

Dr. Kevin E. O'Shea

Abstract

Arsenic is a human carcinogen that has been found in various waters and wines throughout the world. Therefore, close examination of these liquids is necessary to prevent the intoxication of animals and humans. Wines and waters often contain significant amounts of toxic arsenic species. The source of arsenic in wines and waters is generally believed to be the result of arsenic-based pesticides and herbicides. Recent studies have also shown that toxic arsenic may be used in the cultivation and acceleration of the ripening process of fruit, ultimately contaminating fruit-based beverages. The determination of total arsenic can be found by using several methods, including AFS or ICP/MS. No pretreatment of water is necessary, except for filtering by means of a Fisherbrand PTFE 0.45 connected to a Becton-Dickinson 10 mL syringe to filter particles from water. The pretreatment of the wine includes ethanol evaporation and an addition of 0.1% nitric acid. A number of commercial drinking waters and regional lake water were analyzed. Since we have confirmed the presence of arsenic in a variety of waters and wines from different countries, we decided to test a number of commercially available beverages for the presence of arsenic. The focus ofthis project is to establish the presence of arsenic in various commercially available beverages. ICP-MS was used to determine total arsenic using certified standards. Internal standards Indium and Yttrium were also used to verify the concentration readings, which varied from 0- 20 ppb.

Share

COinS
 

Rights Statement

Rights Statement

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).