Use of hydrochloric acid for determinining solid-phase arsenic partitioning in sulfidic sediments

We examined the use of room-temperature hydrochloric acid (1-6 M) and salt solutions of magnesium chloride, sodium carbonate, and sodium sulfide for the removal of arsenic from synthetic iron monosulfides and contaminated sediments containing acid-volatile sulfides (AVS). Results indicate that acid-soluble arsenic reacts with H2S released from AVS phases and precipitates at low pH as disordered orpiment or alacranite. Arsenic sulfide precipitation is consistent with geochemical modeling in that conditions during acid extraction are predicted to be oversaturated with respect to orpiment, realgar, or both. Binding of arsenic with sulfide at low pH is sufficiently strong that 6 M HCl will not keep spiked arsenic in the dissolved fraction. Over a wide range of AVS concentrations and molar [As]/[AVS] ratios, acid extraction of arsenic from sulfide-bearing sediments will give biased results that overestimate the stability or underestimate the bioavailability of sediment-bound arsenic. Alkaline solutions of sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate are efficient in removing arsenic from arsenic sulfides and mixed iron-arsenic sulfides because of the high solubility of arsenic at alkaline pH, the formation of stable arsenic complexes with sulfide or carbonate, or both.