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Updated: Sep 3, 2025
Preparation of DMMTAV and DMDTAV Using DMAV for Environmental Applications: Synthesis, Purification, and Confirmation
Published on: March 9, 2018
Dimethylated Thioarsenates: A Potentially Dangerous Blind Spot in Current Worldwide Regulatory Limits for Arsenic in
Britta Planer-Friedrich1, Carolin F Kerl1, Andrea E Colina Blanco1
1Environmental Geochemistry, Bayreuth Center for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Abstract:
Arsenic (As) occurrence in rice is a serious human health threat. Worldwide, regulations typically limit only carcinogenic inorganic As, but not possibly carcinogenic dimethylated oxyarsenate (DMA). However, there is emerging evidence that "DMA", determined by routine acid-based extraction and analysis, hides a substantial share of dimethylated thioarsenates that have similar or higher cytotoxicities than arsenite. Risk assessments characterizing the in vivo toxicity of rice-derived dimethylated thioarsenates are urgently needed. In the meantime, either more sophisticated methods based on enzymatic extraction and separation of dimethylated oxy- and thioarsenates have to become mandatory or total As should be regulated.
