Tomorrow, Friday 27 August, Matís employee and master's student at the University of Iceland, Ásta Heiðrún E. Pétursdóttir, will give a lecture on arsenic in fishmeal.
The lecture is entitled: Determination of toxic and non-toxic arsenic species in fish meal.
The lecture will take place in room 158 in the VR-II building on Friday 27 August at 12.30.
Abstract
There is a lot of arsenic in the ecosystem in organic compounds as well as in inorganic form and more than 50 natural chemical forms of arsenic have been found. Seafood naturally contains a high concentration of the total arsenic. The majority of arsenic in seafood, on the other hand, is bound in an organic form, so-called arsenobetanide, which is considered safe. Other forms of arsenic in marine products are generally present in lower concentrations, including inorganic arsenic (arsenite and arsenate) which are toxic. This dissertation includes results and statistical processing of measurements of total concentration in over 100 samples of Icelandic fishmeal. Among other things, it was examined whether there was a seasonal difference in the total concentration of arsenic. Emphasis was then placed on the analysis of toxic inorganic arsenic and different methods were tested and evaluated. The previously published alkali-alcohol extraction method, for the detection of inorganic arsenic, was adapted and the samples were measured by HPLC equipment connected to ICP-MS. Arsenobetanide was found to be the predominant form of arsenic in all cases. Inorganic arsenic was found to be less than four percent of the total concentration in twelve different fishmeal samples. The alkali-alcohol extraction method gave a convincing upper limit on the concentration of inorganic arsenic. The need for further development of chemical analysis methods in this field is urgent.
For further information contact Ásta, asta.h.petursdottir@matis.is.