Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at his home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The project at Voorhees College has potential broader impacts in a number of areas. The goal of the project is develop an analytical methodology for the speciation analysis of various arsenic species in the natural environment, particularly those with high sulfide levels. The project will also enhance the research experience and training of undergraduate students at Voorhees College and promises to provide collaboration between the College and the local community through public education and environmental monitoring services for municipal facilities.
Commonly encountered arsenic species in natural aquatic environments include arsenite, arsenate , monomethylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid. Another type of arsenic species,thioarsenates, has been found recently in environments with high sulfide levels. This project seeks the simultaneous detection of thioarsenate species and common inorganic and organic arsenic species, which has not been previously reported. The project will consist of three stages. First liquid chromatographic techniques will be explored to determine their suitability for the separation and analysis of both inorganic and organic arsenic analysis. A methodology based on chromatography and mass spectrometry will be developed and validated. Then, laboratory experiments will be conducted to analyze arsenic speciation in simulated sulfidic waters, and finally field samples will be collected and analyzed to investigate the fate of arsenic in real sulfidic environments. The occurrence mechanisms and the results on the fate and transport of thioarsenate species will provide helpful background for the development of strategies in controlling and remediating arsenic mobilization in a sulfidic environment.
