Arsenic Removal General Mineral Analysis And Design Data Bulletin

Arsenic (As) is a non-metallic element found in group Va of the periodic chart. The physical appearance of arsenic is similar to a metal, and it is referred to as a metalloid to distinguish it from a true non-metallic element. Arsenic rarely occurs in the native state, is the twentieth most abundant element on the crust of the earth, is a principal component of six arsenic minerals, and may occur as an impurity in as many as 245 (non-arsenical) minerals. Arsenic and its compounds are mobile in the environment, and water is a primary means of arsenic transport. Arsenic is dissolved into water as rain falls on weathered rocks and soils, and as it flows through aquifers containing the most common Arsenic bearing rocks such as limestone, granite, and marble; and minerals such as arsenopyrite, cobalt, copper, gold, lead, orpiment, tin, zinc, realgar, serpentine, tungsten, iron, and manganese.