Understanding the Geological and Medical Interface of Arsenic - As 2012: Proceedings of the 4th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment, 22-27 July 2012, Cairns, Australia(Arsenic in the Environment - Proceedings)

The congress "Arsenic in the Environment" offers an international, multi- and interdisciplinary discussion platform for arsenic research aimed at practical solutions of problems with considerable social impact, as well as focusing on cutting edge and breakthrough research in physical, chemical, toxicological, medical and other specific issues on arsenic on a broader environmental realm. The congress "Arsenic in the Environment" was first organized in Mexico City (As 2006) followed by As 2008 in Valencia, Spain and As 2010 in Tainan, Taiwan. The 4th International Congress As 2012 was held in Cairns, Australia from July 22-27, 2012 entitled Understanding the Geological and Medical Interface of Arsenic. The session topics comprised: 1. Geology and hydrogeology of arsenic; 2. Medical and health issues of arsenic; 3. Remediation and policy; 4. Analytical methods for arsenic; and 5. Special topics on "Risk assessment of arsenic from mining", "Geomicrobiology of arsenic", "Geothermal arsenic", "Rice arsenic and health perspectives", "Sustainable mitigation of arsenic: from field trials to policy implications", and "Biogeochemical processes of high arsenic groundwater in inland basins" Hosting this congress in Australia was welcome and valued by the local scientific communities. Australia is a mineral rich country where mining has generated significant economic benefit to its people. Unfortunately historical mining for base metals, gold and arsenic had led to environmental contamination of arsenic. Locally produced arsenical compounds were widely used as pesticides and in timber preservation. It is known that there are several thousands of cattle- and sheep-dip sites contaminated with arsenic in Australia. However, commonly observed symptoms of chronic arsenic poisonings such as those found in endemic-blackfoot areas are seemingly absent from these types of environmental contamination due to good quality of potable water supply. Does this fall in the classic argument of "the dose makes the poison"? This congress theme of "understanding the geological and medical interface of arsenic" will advance our knowledge in minimising the risk posted by this so-called number one prioritised contaminant – arsenic.

Table of Contents:
About the book series Foreword (President, KTH) Foreword (Vice-Chancellor and President, USQ) Foreword (Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor UQ) Organizers Scientific committee Editors’ foreword List of contributors Plenary presentations Bioavailability and bio-accessibility of arsenic for ecological and human health risk assessment: The geological and health interface R. Naidu Health hazards and susceptibility biomarkers of arsenic in the environment: Gene-environment interactions C.-J. Chen Arsenic in the geosphere meets the anthroposphere D.K. Nordstrom Section I: Geology and hydrogeology of arsenic I.1 Geogenic and anthropogenic sources of arsenic: Significance and characterisation Arsenic mobilization during seawater inundation of acid sulfate soils—hydrogeochemical coupling at the tidal fringe S.G. Johnston, E.D. Burton, A.F. Keene, R.T. Bush & L.A. Sullivan Seasonal hydrological connectivity and arsenic dynamics across an acid sulfate soil affected coastal wetland B. Nath, C.E. Oldham, L.C. Ellis, D.D. Boland & A.M. Lillicrap Arsenic concentrations and speciation in acid sulfate environments J.L. Stroud & R.N. Collins The impact of microbial sulfate-reduction on subsurface arsenic mobility E.D. Burton & S.G. Johnston Natural arsenic in groundwater of Indus delta in the province of Sindh, Pakistan V. Husain, S. Naseem, A. Khan, P. Bhattacharya & G.M. Arain Sediment and hydrogeochemical contrasts between low and very high arsenic affected areas west and east of river Bhagirathi, West Bengal, India S. Datta, M.S. Sankar, C. Hobson, A. Neal, K. Johannesson, T.J. Mohajerin, K. Telfeyan & N. Yang Evolution of arsenic and groundwater isotopes along a sharp gradient in arsenic concentrations in Van Phuc, Vietnam R. Kipfer, C. Stengel, M. Berg, B.C. Bostick, A. van Geen, M.O. Stahl, P. Oates, C.F. Harvey, V.T.M. Lan, N.-N. Mai, P.T.K. Trang & P.H. Viet Arsenic and other heavy metal contamination in central India K.S. Patel, B. Ambade, N.K. Jaiswal, R. Sharma, R.K. Patel, B. Blazhev, M. Lautent & P. Bhattacharya Regional soil arsenic inputs and loading rates from animal manure Y.X. Li, X.L. Zhang, F.S. Zhang & Z.L. Zhao Arsenic pollution of the Ganga Plain and its impact on the most populated region of the world: Uttar Pradesh and its geo-environment V. Rai Relationship of arsenic contamination and ecology environment Y.L. Zhang, J. Sun & G. Huang Arsenic contamination in groundwater of Surma basin of Assam and Mizoram, North Eastern India P. Thambidurai, D. Chandrasekharam, A.K. Chandrashekhar & S.H. Farooq Floodplain morphology and relation to the spatial distribution of arsenic in the aquifers of Matlab, Southeastern Bangladesh N.S. Rashid, K.M. Ahmed, M.Z. Rahman, M.A. Hasan, P. Bhattacharya & M. Hossain Biogeochemical relationships of arsenic in the Haor Basin of Bangladesh M.T.A. Chowdhury & A.A. Meharg Groundwater arsenic chemistry and redox process comparison in three physiographic settings of deltaic West Bengal, India S. Bhowmick, B. Nath, D. Halder, S. Chakraborty & D. Chatterjee I.2 Hydrogeolocial / sedimentological control on arsenic distribution / heterogeneity Arsenic binding onto phyllosilicates and glutathione: Soil immobilisation and human excretion mechanisms L. Charlet, F. Bardelli, C. Parsons, J. He, S. Chakraborty & J. Gailer Arsenic in groundwaters of the central Gangetic plain regions of India AL. Ramanathan, P. Tripathi, M. Kumar, A. Kumar, P. Kumar, M. Kumar & P. Bhattacharya Spatial heterogeneity of arsenic in a deltaic groundwater environment of West Bengal, India D. Chatterjee, S. Majumder, A. Biswas, S. Sarkar, A.K. Kundu, A. Mukherjee, S. Bhowmick, G. Roman-Ross, H. Neidhardt & Z. Berner Potentiality of shallow brown sand aquifers as an alternative safe drinking water source in Bengal Basin A. Biswas, P. Bhattacharya, D. Halder, G. Jacks, B. Nath, A. Mukherjee, A.K. Kundu, U. Mandal & D. Chatterjee Monsoonal influence on stable isotope signature and arsenic distribution in groundwaters of rural West Bengal: A spatio-temporal study S. Majumder, S. Datta, B. Nath, Z. Berner, S. Sarkar & D. Chatterjee Potentiality of intermediate depth aquifer as a source of arsenic and manganese safe tubewells in Bangladesh M. Hossain, A. Haque, S. Alam, M. Rahman, M.R. Uddin, S.G. Sarwar, M.G. Kibria, R. Hasan, K.M. Ahmed, M.A. Hasan, J. Alam, P. Bhattacharya, G. Jacks & M. von Brömssen Hydrogeology of an arsenic-mineralized fractured phyllite, and implications for groundwater arsenic dispersion M. Gasparon, V. Ciminelli, G. Duarte & J.C. Ng Generalization of results from a pilot study by numerical modeling T. Krüger, H.M. Holländer, H. Prommer, P.-W. Boochs & M. Billib Vertical distribution and mobilization of arsenic in shallow alluvial aquifers of Chapai-Nawabganj, Northwestern Bangladesh A.H.M. Selim Reza & J.-S. Jean Flow paths and travel time of groundwater from arsenic contaminated zone to deeper aquifer units under different development stresses A. Zahid, M.Q. Hassan & K. Jahan Geological origin of arsenic groundwater contamination in Bihar, India A.K. Ghosh, N. Bose, R. Kumar, H. Bruining, S. Lourma, M.E. Donselaar & A.G. Bhatt Groundwater arsenic from parts of the Middle Ganga Plain, India: Influence of fluvial geomorphology and Quaternary morphostratigraphy B.A. Shah An overview of arsenic occurrence in the groundwater of Mexico F.I. Arreguín-Cortés, R. Chávez-Guillén, P.R. Soto-Navarro & P.L. Smedley Characterization of subsurface sediments and its implication on arsenic mobilization in Gangetic plain S. Kar, J.-S. Jean, C.-C. Liu, J.P. Maity, B. Nath & J.-F. Lee The relationship between the concentration of arsenic and the hydraulic gradient along the shallow groundwater flow-path of Hetao plain, Northern China W.G. Cao & Y.L. Zhang I.3 Mobility and transport of arsenic (geochemical modelling, environmental fate and risk assessment) Arsenic biotransformation and transfer from rhizosphere to plant L.Q. Ma, B. Rathinasabapathi, X. Wang, S. Mathews & P. Ghosh Phytoremediation of arsenic—does it work? M. Greger Effect of organic fertilization practiced in paddy soils in Bangladesh on arsenic dynamics M. Hossain, A. Mestrot, G.J. Norton, C.M. Deacon & A.A. Meharg Microbial involvement in the dynamics of arsenic in irrigated agricultural systems of Bangladesh S. Sanwar & S.M. Imamul Huq Air-filled porosity controls on dissolved arsenic and cadmium concentrations in paddy soils K. Nakamura, H. Katou, K. Suzuki & T. Honma The effects of organics on the transformation and release of arsenic W.M. Al Lawati, B.E. van Dongen, D. Polya, J.-S. Jean, T.R. Kulp & M. Berg Human exposure to arsenic and manganese in groundwater in the Red River Delta, Vietnam P.T.K. Trang, V.T.M. Lan, P.H. Viet, M. Berg, D. Postma & F. Larsen Adsorption of arsenic to different natural solids: Soils, stream sediments and peats B. Doušová, S. Krejčová, M. Lhotka, F. Buzek & J.J. Rothwell Occurrence, distribution, and release mechanism of arsenic in aquifers of Yinchuan Plain in China F.C. Zhang, S. Han, H. Zhang, Y. An, C. Wang, X. Cheng & X. Wang Arsenic, selenium and antimony adsorption behavior in different soil types S. Krejčová & B. Doušová Arsenate adsorption onto two-line ferrihydrite for abandoned mine drainage S.J. Choi, Y.J. Choi, I.J. Kim, B.T. Lee & K.-W. Kim Leaching test for arsenic mobilization assessment from vanadium mining samples L. Santos Jr., J.W.V. Mello, J. Silva, L. Poyares, R.W. Veloso & B.R. Figueiredo Arsenic bioavailability and mobility in contaminated soils and mine tailings P.J.C. Favas & J.M.S. Pratas Characteristics of potential arsenic leaching in paddy field soils M.S. Azam & M. Shafiquzzaman Distribution and mobility of geogenic arsenic in the shallow aquifers of the northeast of La Pampa, Argentina A. Aullón Alcaine, A. Sandhi, P. Bhattacharya, G. Jacks, J. Bundschuh, R. Thunvik, C. Schulz & C.M. Mörth Naturally occurring arsenic and metals in coastal streams and intertidal sediments and biota L. Morrison & B.M. Petrunic Section II: Medical and health issues of arsenic II.1 Chronic arsenic effects and epidemiological studies The importance and validity of ecologic studies concerning arsenic in drinking water A.H. Smith, J. Liaw, Y. Yuan, C. Steinmaus, G. Marshall & C. Ferreccio Clinical trial involving selenium supplementation to counter arsenic toxicity among rural population in Bangladesh M. Alauddin, T. Wheaton, M. Valencia, E. Stekolchik, J.E. Spallholz, P.F. La Porte, S. Ahmed, B. Chakaraborty, M. Bhattacharjee, A.B.M. Zakaria, S. Sultana, G.N. George, I.J. Pickering & J. Gailer Ingested inorganic arsenic, cigarettes smoking and risk of urinary cancer in Taiwan C.-L. Chen, H.-Y. Chiou & C.-J. Chen An update of findings on arsenic exposure and respiratory outcomes from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) F. Parvez, V. Slavkovich, J.H. Graziano, Y. Chen, M. Yunus, R. Hasan, A. Ahmed, T. Islam, C. Olopade, M. Argos & H. Ahsan The association between arsenic exposure from drinking water and arterial embolism and thrombosis in Northeastern Taiwan: Preliminary results L.-I. Hsu, C.-J. Chen & H.-Y. Chiou Arsenic metabolism, lactate dehydrogenase and electrocardiogram abnormality among residents in the arseniasis-endemic areas of southwestern Taiwan Y. Liao, C.J. Chen, W. Chen, W. Li, H.Y. Chen & S.L. Wang Arsenic exposure in pregnancy increases the risk of adverse birth outcomes of newborn in Taiwan W.C. Chou, C.Y. Chuang, P.C. Huang, C.J. Wang, H.Y. Chen, Y.D. Chuang, S.L. Wang & Z.H. Yu Chronic exposure to arsenic and prevalence of diabetes in Mexico C. Gonzá lez-Horta, B. Sá nchez-Ramírez, M.L. Ballinas, C. Ishida-Gutiérrez, L.M. Del Razo, G. García-Vargas, D. Loomis, Z. Drobná & M. Styblo Ground water arsenic contamination in West Bengal, India: Health effects, genetic susceptibility and its mitigation P. Bhattacharjee, M. Banerjee, N. Banerjee, A.K. Bandyopadhyay & A.K. Giri An update of findings on arsenic exposure and cardiovascular disease outcomes from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) Y. Chen, F. Wu, M.L. Liu, S. Segers, H. Ahsan, F. Parvez, V. Slavkovich, D. Levy, J.H. Graziano, A. van Geen, T. Islam, A. Ahmed, M. Rakibuz-Zaman, R. Hasan & S.G. Sarwar Mental health burden and neuropsychiatric deficits of chronic arsenic exposure: First results of the Vietnamese field study C. Norra, D.T.M. Ngoc, P.T.K. Trang, V.T.M. Lan, P.H. Viet, S. Norra & H.J. Kunert Arsenic methylation pattern and its association with oxidative stress status in populations exposed to arsenic in drinking water in China G.F. Sun, Q.M. Zheng, Y.Y. Xu, B. Li & X. Li Effects of early-life arsenic exposure on child health and development M. Vahter, R. Gardner, S. Ahmed, M. Kippler, J.D. Hamadani, F. Tofail & R. Raqib Toxicological significance of arsenic in groundwater: A case study from India S.K. Sharma Arsenic toxicity scenario and challenges for Bangladesh M.H.R. Mian, K.H. Imran, M.A. Hosain, S.A. Mamun, M. Miah & M.S. Islam II.2 Recent advances in arsenic toxicology / biochemistry and food web transfer Pathways of arsenic biotransformations: The arsenic methylation cycle B. Rosen, K. Marapakala, A.A. Abdul Salam, C. Packianathan & M. Yoshinaga Arsenic-protein binding: A quantitative overview S. Shen, X.F. Li, X.C. Le, M. Weinfeld & W.R. Cullen Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and microprobe synchrotron radiation-X-ray fluorescence imaging for understanding the mode of action of arsenic anti-leukaemia agents K.L. Munro, C.T. Dillon, H.H. Harris, Z. Cai, B. Lai, S. Vogt & M. Cheah Effects of arsenite on macropinocytotic and autophagic activities in CHO-K1 cells S. Hirano, T. Watanabe, Y. Kobayashi & S. Kanno Synergistic toxic effects among arsenic, chromium and copper associated with chrome copper arsenate-treated wood L. Hu, Y. Cai, J.B. Greer, H. Solo-Gabriele & L.A. Fieber Arsenic exposure in cows from a high contaminated area in the Chaco-Pampean plain, Argentina A.L. Pérez-Carrera & A. Fernández-Cirelli Bilirubin oxidative metabolites: Novel biomarkers for acute arsenite exposure? A. Abu-Bakar, D.M. Arthur & J.C. Ng Arsenic trioxide enhances radiation sensitivity of androgen-dependent and -independent human prostate cancer cells Y.-J. Wang, H.-W. Chiu, Y.-A. Chen & S.-Y. Ho The arsenic stress defense mechanism of Corynebaterium glutamicum revealed L.M. Mateos, B. Rosen & J. Messens Non-invasive linear polarized light irradiation on the stellate ganglion improves skin blood flow in patients with Blackfoot disease C.-H. Lee & H.-S. Yu Exogenous alpha lipoic acid supplementation modulates sodium arsenite induced functional and structural alterations in developing rat cerebellum P.K. Gupta, P. Dhar & R.D. Mehra ABCA1 reducing cellular arsenic accumulation in mammalian cells X.H. Tan, C.H. Di, Y.F. Cao, L. Yang, L.L. Xian & J. Huang Genome-wide DNA methylation pattern of urothelial carcinoma with arsenic exposure T.Y. Yang, C.-J. Chen, L.-I. Hsu, A.W. Chiu, Y.S. Pu & S.H. Wang Mitigating symptoms of chronic arsenic toxicity in rats using high selenium lentil diets S. Sah, A. Vandenberg & J.E.G. Smits Health risk assessment for inorganic arsenic in seafood from a polluted lagoon in Italy M. Schintu, A. Marrucci, B. Marras, P. Meloni, A. Contu & S. Degetto Arsenic and fluoride in groundwater in northern Santa Fe province, Argentina L. Gallo-Mendoza, A.L. Pérez-Carrera & A. Fernández-Cirelli Arsenic content and source of food in “coal-burning” endemic fluorosis area of Zhaotong City, eastern Yunnan K.L. Luo, Y.X. Xu & C.X. Niu Arsenic toxicity in local cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.) In Bihar, India N. Bose, R.N. Singh, A.K. Ghosh & R. Kumar Transfer concentrations of arsenic in the structures of barley (Hordeum vulgare) A. Saldaña-Robles & R.J. Guerra-Sánchez Section III: Remediation and policy III.1 Arsenic in soils, plants and food chain: Bioavailability, bioaccessibility, uptake and toxicity Incidental ingestion of arsenic contaminated soil and dust: Refining exposure through bioavailability and bioaccessibility assessment A.L. Juhasz, E. Smith, J. Weber & R. Naidu “Arsenic in rice is not a problem because everybody eats it”: The past, present and future of regulation of arsenic in drinking water and food 239 D. Polya, J. Gibson, N. Russell & J. Sauer Organic matter and water regime management to mitigate arsenic toxicity in rice S.M. Imamul Huq, S. Roy, M.T.A. Chowdhury & S. Ahmed Arsenic from groundwater into soils, plants and the food chain: Complementary case studies from West Bengal, Inner Mongolia and the Red River Delta, Vietnam S. Norra, Z. Berner, I. Boie, E. Eiche, E.C. Kellermeier, M. Kizcka, U. Kramar, H. Neidhardt, P. Agarwala, D. Chandrasekharam, R. Rout, H. Guo, X. Tang, V.T.M. Lan, P.T.K. Trang & P.H. Viet Arsenic and its bioavailability in surface waters in a black schist area in northern Sweden G. Jacks, M. von Brömssen, Z. Slejkokovec & E. Nilsson Bioavailability and toxicity of arsenic to earthworms in three soils M.A. Ayanka Wijayawardena, M. Megharaj & R. Naidu Content of arsenic and heavy metals in the soils around the Novocherkassk Power Station T.M. Minkina, S.S. Mandzhieva, G.V. Motuzova & O.G. Nazarenko Effect of diet on bio accessibility and biotransformation of arsenic P. Alava, G. Du Laing, F. Tack & T. Van De Wiele Effect of biochar amendment in reducing the availability of arsenic uptake by sweet corn (Zea Mays L.) A.S. Norazlina, I. Che Fauziah & A.B. Rosenani III.2 Remediation and water treatment Arsenic removal from groundwater by small-scale reverse osmosis unit in rural Bihar, India J. Hoinkis, M. Hermann, S. Schmidt, E. Gukelberger, A. Ghosh, D. Chatterjee & J. Bundschuh Emerging options for solving the arsenic problems of rural and periurban areas in Latin America M.I. Litter & J. Bundschuh Fate of arsenate adsorbed on nano-titanium dioxide with sulfate reducing bacteria C. Jing, T. Luo & S. Liu Application of mine sludge for arsenic adsorption from mine drainage and comparison of removal efficiency by reactor design K.R. Kim, M.-S. Ko, J.-Y. Kim, A. Lee, I.J. Kim, K.-W. Kim, H.S. Park & Y.S. Shim The strangely simple effect of silicic acid on arsenic sorption by ferrihydrite P.J. Swedlund, R. Dol Hamid & H.K. Christenson Arsenic removal by subsurface flow constructed wetlands K. Lizama Allende, T.D. Fletcher & G. Sun Role of phosphate in mobilizing arsenic from soil to groundwater in West Bengal: Experimental investigation G. Vinay, D. Chandrasekharam, B. Nair, G. Trupti & S.H. Farooq Arsenic removal from natural groundwater using cupric oxide K.J. Reddy & T.R. Roth Arsenic uptake by aquatic macrophytes: Possibilities for phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated waters P.J.C. Favas, J.M.S. Pratas & M.N.V. Prasad Room temperature synthesized granular adsorbent for arsenic removal from drinking water T. Pradeep, S.M. Maliyekkal, M.U. Sankar, A. Chaundhury & Anshup Evaluation of arsenic removal potential of few indigenous materials through batch study C. Mahanta, S. Mondal & P. Bhattacharya Removal of arsenic and selenium with rehydrated clay minerals M. Lhotka, B. Doušová & V. Machovič Monitored natural attenuation for an arsenic contaminated industrial site with sulfate reducing aquifer conditions: A twelve year case study S. Stauder & P. Werner Biological filtration applied in Vietnam to remove arsenite from well water without a pre-oxidation step Y. Fujikawa, Ph.D. Hung, M. Sugahara, H. Iwasaki, M. Wei & T. Hamasaki Removal of arsenic from aqueous solution by granular modified natural siderite: Characterization and behavior K. Zhao & H. Guo Peat based sorbents for arsenic removal L. Ansone, M. Klavins & L. Eglite Arsenite (bio) immobilization using Sulfur Reducing Bacteria (SRB) M. Moreira, P.F. Costa & M.C. Teixeira Natural arsenic occurrence and its removal from drinking water using a tubular photo-reactor enhanced with a solar concentrator in Cochabamba, Bolivia M. Ormachea, L. Huallpara, J. Quintanilla, O. Ormachea, R. Escalera & P. Bhattacharya Arsenic removal from water by bio-iron produced from bacterial precipitation M.A. Hossain, W. Verstraete, M. Verloo & T. Hennebel Removal of arsenic from water using modified highly selective adsorbents S.H. Lee, J.-Y. Kim, H.A. Kim, K.-W. Kim, H. Kim, C.H. Kim, H. Kang & S. Bang Removal of arsenic from drinking water using non-hazardous natural citrate sources S. Majumder, B. Nath, S. Sarkar, Sk.M. Islam & D. Chatterjee Fate of arsenate adsorbed on nano-titanium dioxide with sulfate reducing bacteria C. Jing, T. Luo & S. Liu III.3 Risk assessment and management of environmental arsenic Bioremediation of arsenic contaminated water: Prospects and recent advances M. Megharaj, M.M. Bahar & R. Naidu Agronomic treatments enhance growth and arsenic uptake by Chinese brake fern (Pteris vittata L.) N. Ashwath, S. Hanggi, D.J. Midmore & J.C. Ng Immobilisation of arsenic in landfilled soil using amendments J. Kumpiene Phytostablization of arsenic: Is it possible by growing Salix spp. in the contaminated sites? A. Sandhi & M. Greger Phytoremediation of arsenic contaminated mined soils: Combination of fern species and arbuscular mycorrizhal fungi H.V. Nguyen, H.M. Nguyen, D.T. Vu, A. Fletcher & L.P. Bui Arsenic response in roots of Eucalyptus spp. J.T. Sanchez-Palacios, D. Callahan, A.J.M. Baker, I.E. Woodrow, A.I. Doronila, Y.D. Wang & R.N. Collins Arsenic fractionation in soils in mining region of the Bolivian Altiplano O.E. Ramos, J. Quintanilla, J. Chambi, G. Jacks, P. Bhattacharya, R. Choque, S. Valdez & I. Quino Discontinuity in arsenic slope factor based on SW Taiwan data S.H. Lamm, S. Robbins, B. Goodrich, R. Chen, J. Lu, C. Zhou & M. Feinleib Geogenic arsenic attributable health risks in Europe D. Polya, D. Mondal, C. Sovann, W. Bradford, M. Watts & A.K. Giri Exposure of goby fish to manganese and arsenic mobilized from sediment in Lake Biwa under hypoxia T. Itai, Y. Hyobu, D. Hayase, S. Tanabe, S.H. Hirata & M. Kumagai Arsenic sorption onto (oxy) hydroxide in comparison with antimony and phosphorus L. Čanecká, M. Bujdoš & S. Čerňansky In-situ remediation of an anthropogenic arsenic contamination T. Krüger, H.M. Holländer, J. Stummeyer, B. Harazim, P.-W. Boochs & M. Billib Effect of arsenic on Hibiscus cannabinus L. (kenaf) behaviour and evaluation of its use in phytoremediation R. Manzano, J. Peñalosa & E. Esteban Effect of phosphate fertilizers on arsenic mobility in arsenic-contaminated soil: Possible assistance in phytoremediation T. Fresno, J. Peñalosa & R.O. Carpena Oxidation of arsenic (III) by a Stenotrophomonas sp. isolated from soil M.M. Bahar, M. Megharaj & R. Naidu Uptake of arsenate and arsenite by two Pteris vittata ecotypes X. Wan, M. Lei, T.B. Chen & G. Zhou Health, labor supply and productivity: An econometric study of Cambodian farm households and arsenic consumption J. Gibson, N. Russell, D. Polya, C. Sovann & J. Sauer Section IV: Analytical methods for arsenic IV.1 Analysis: Recent advances and challenges Arsenic in marine organisms: New species and new analytical approaches W.A. Maher, S. Foster, F. Krikowa, E. Duncan, G. Raber & K.A. Francesconi Arsenic mobilization in sediments: An investigation using in situ sampling techniques W.W. Bennett, P.R. Teasdale, J.G. Panther, D.T. Welsh, H. Zhao & D.F. Jolley Homogeneity and stability testing of a candidate reference material for the determination of total arsenic in tuna fish sample T.A. Koesmawati, Buchari, K.A. Francesconi & J.C. Ng Arsenic and other metals in rice A.M. Shraim Concentration of arsenic, cadmium and lead in home garden vegetables of Bangladesh M.M. Rahman, M. Asaduzzaman & R. Naidu Investigation of biogeochemical interactive reaction processes of arsenic in Choushui river alluvial fan and Lanyang plain using isotopic methods, Taiwan Y.H. Kao, C.W. Liu & S.W. Wang Evidences of arsenic (III) precipitation on iron (III) oxy-hydroxides from the combination of Raman spectroscopy, density functional theory calculations, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy G. Duarte, V. Ciminelli, M.S.S. Dantas, I.F. Vasconcelos, K. Osseo-Asare, J.D. Kubicki & H. Watts Arsenic speciation in rice using liquid chromatography and flow injection atomic fluorescence spectrometry (FI-HPLC-HG-AFS) B. Chen, W.T. Corns & J.-H. Huang Arsenic cycling in marine phytoplankton: The importance of representative experiments E. Duncan, W.A. Maher, S. Foster & F. Krikowa Speciation of inorganic arsenic in marine waters by stripping analysis at a gold microwire electrode P. Salaün, K. Gibbon-Walsh & C.M.G. Van Den Berg Arsenic species in soils: Ecological aspects G.V. Motuzova, E.A. Karpova & R.S. Aptikaev Histopathological alterations in the tissues of fresh water fish Channa punctatus (Bloch.) due to sodium arsenite exposure R. Mishra & M. Tripathi Biodegradable chelating ligands for iron and arsenic bioavailability and uptake in rice (Oryza sativa L.) M. Azizur Rahman, R. Lim & H. Hasegawa Speciation analysis and distribution characteristics of arsenic in Pteris vittata L. grown on arsenic ectopic remediation site J. Ma, M. Lei, T.B. Chen, S. Liu, Y.-M. Li & B. Chen Improved rinsing procedure for samples containing sulfide and organic interferences in determination of arsenic by voltammetry P. Lewtas & M. Wajrak Determination of arsenic species using the Diffusive Gradients in Thin films (DGT) device M.C. Fontanella, G.M. Beone & I. Cattani Performance characteristics of diffusive gradients in thin films with a mixed-binding layer gel for the measurement of inorganic arsenic and metals T. Huynh, B.N. Noller & H. Zhang The use of ion chromatography hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS) for arsenic speciation in apple juice B. Chen, J. Allen, W.T. Corns & P.B. Stockwell Section S1: Special Topic 1: Risk assessment of arsenic from mining Conveners: Jochen Bundschuh (AU, SE), Ma. Teresa Alarcón Herrara (MX), Luiz Roberto Guimarães Guilherme (BR), Virgínia Ciminelli (BR), Beverley Hale (CA), Sandra Leticia Rodríguez (MX), Jack Ng (AU) & Barry Noller (AU) Arsenic from mining old and new: Legacies and challenges B.N. Noller, V. Diacomanolis, V.P. Matanitobua, J.C. Ng & H.H. Harris Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of arsenic in rats are influenced by cadmium: Health risk assessment of mine wastes V. Diacomanolis, B.N. Noller & J.C. Ng Arsenic management at a low-grade, large-scale gold mine J.A.M.M. Esper, A.L. Nepomuceno, M.A. Morais, R.V. Senna, R. Guazelli & F. Mohamed Evaluation of 10 years stability of concentrated arsenic-sulfide tailings G. Duarte, V. Ciminelli, M. Gasparon & J.W.V. Mello Temporal variation and co-occurrence of fluoride and arsenic in aquifers of the central semi-arid region of Chihuahua, Mexico M.T. Alarcón-Herrera, V.M. Reyes-López, M. Gutierrez & D. Núñez Arsenic speciation and bioaccessibility in gold mining tailings, Cuba L.R.G. Guilherme, R. Toujaguez, F.B. Ono, V. Martins, P.P. Cabrera, A.V. Blanco & J. Bundschuh Preliminary validation of modelled environmental PM10 arsenic trioxide (As2O3) dust fallout from a copper smelter in Namibia B.D. Johnson & J.E. Myers Impacts of iron and manganese mining activities: Arsenic in marine and wetland sediments J.S. Paimpillil & M. Nair Development of pragmatic and risk based solutions for sites impacted by historic mining activities J.S. Throssell & S. Ooi Arsenic speciation in surface water polluted from cinnabar ore mining and processing at Red Devil, Alaska K.W. Torrance, H.E. Keenan, W.T. Corns, B. Chen, L. Munk & B. Hagedorn Arsenic speciation of lead-zinc mine wastes using X-ray absorption spectroscopy V. Diacomanolis, J.C. Ng, H.H. Harris, J. Aitken & B.N. Noller Chemical immobilisation of complex arsenic co-contaminated industrial waste A.L. Nolan, D. McKay, F. Lunsmann, M. Fensom & D. Wood Integrated remediation and development of an arsenic contaminated site A.L. Nolan, B. Morris, F. Lunsmann, M. Fensom & D. Wood Section S2: Special Topic 2: Geomicrobiology of arsenic Conveners: Thomas Kulp (US), Joanne Santini (UK), Jochen Bundschuh (AU, SE) & Jiin-Shuh Jean (TW) Microbial arsenic metabolism and the impact on arsenic bioremediation J.-S. Jean, S. Das, C.-C. Liu, S. Kar & J. Bundschuh Isolation of an arsenite-oxidizing bacterium in the arsenic contaminated shallow alluvial aquifer in the Blackfoot disease endemic area: Its potential for remediation of arsenic in groundwater V.H.-C. Liao & A.-C. Kao Vertical and lateral distribution of microbial communities in groundwater and sediment in high arsenic shallow aquifers of Hetao Basin, Inner Mongolia P. Li, Y.H. Wang, Z. Jiang, Y.X. Wang & H.L. Dong Microbial influence on arsenic speciation: In search of the origins of arsenic resistance K. Hug, J.W. Moreau, F. Krikowa, W.A. Maher, X. Morgan & M.B. Stott Kinetic modelling of microbial iron (II) oxidation, iron (III) hydrolysis, and arsenic (III) oxidation in acid waters K.M. Campbell, D.K. Nordstrom & M.B. Hay The influence of sulfate reducing bacteria on arsenic, iron, and sulfate behaviour under anaerobic condition M.-S. Ko, J.-Y. Kim, K.W. Kim & J.-S. Lee Colonization of freshwater periphyton under chronic arsenate exposure: Influence of nutrient status M.C. Rodriguez Castro, H. Guasch Padró & A. Giorgi Fungal processes affecting speciation and mobility of arsenic S. Čerňansky, K. Boriová, M. Kolenčík, L. Čanecká, P. Matúš, M. Bujdoš & A. Šimonovičová Section S3: Special Topic 3: Geothermal arsenic Conveners: Jochen Bundschuh (AU, SE), Thomas Pichler (DE), Jenny Webster-Brown (NZ) & D. Kirk Nordstrom (US) Biological processes affecting geothermal arsenic in a lowland river J.G. Webster-Brown, A.F. Hegan & N.J. Wilson Arsenic in geothermal and mine drainage waters of the world D.L. López & P. O’Connor Arsenic in Yellowstone’s thermal waters: Trends and anomalies D.K. Nordstrom, R.B. McCleskey & K.M. Campbell Case studies of arsenic in hydrothermal fluids of three different regimes: Menez Gwen (MAR), Manus Basin, and Panarea (Äolian Island-arc) C. Breuer, T. Pichler & M.J. Ruiz-Chancho Geothermal arsenic in Taiwan: Geochemistry and microbial diversity J.P. Maity, C.-Y. Chen, B. Nath, J. Bundschuh & P. Bhattacharya Occurrence of arsenic and related microbial signature of hydrothermal systems in Western Turkey C.-Y. Chen, J.P. Maity, J. Bundschuh, P. Bhattacharya, A. Baba & O. Gunduz Section S4: Special Topic 4: Rice arsenic and health perspective Conveners: Jack Ng (AU) & Yongguan Zhou (CN) Potential strategies for mitigating arsenic contamination in rice grain H. Li, C. Wu & M.H. Wong Arsenic in soil-rice systems: Microbial ecology perspectives Y.G. Zhu, Y.F. Jia, Z. Chen, H. Huang & G.X. Sun An analysis of institutional stakeholders’ opinion on arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh N.I. Khan & H. Yang Arsenic porewater dynamics and arsenic uptake by aman rice in intermittently and continuously flooded paddy fields in Bangladesh L.C. Roberts, S.J. Hug, A. Voegelin, A.B.M. Badruzzaman & M.A. Ali Arsenic exposure and health risk from consumption of brown rice in rural Bengal, India D. Halder, A. Biswas, P. Bhattacharya, S. Bhowmick, U. Mandal, D. Chatterjee & J. Nriagu Arsenic concentration in soil, rice and straw in central India 508 K.S. Patel, A. Verma, N.K. Jaiswal, B.L. Sahu, K. Shrivas, A. Raab, J. Feldmann, L. Borgese, A. Gianoncelli, E. Bontempi, M. Lautent & P. Bhattacharya Section S5: Special Topic 5: Sustainable mitigation of arsenic: From field trials to policy implications Conveners: Kazi Matin Ahmed (BD), Prosun Bhattacharya (SE), Abhijit Mukherjee (IN) & Ravi Naidu (AU) Groundwater arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh: Mission achievable or impossible? K.M. Ahmed Tubewell platform color: Assessment of a tool for rapid screening of arsenic and manganese in well water P. Bhattacharya, A. Biswas, D. Halder, G. Jacks, B. Nath, D. Chatterjee & A. Mukherjee Pay-for-use arsenic testing: Promoting demand-driven mitigation and monitoring in Bangladesh Y. Zheng, P. Ravenscroft, S.M. Rahman & S.A.I. Hakim Wide spread arsenic in deeper groundwater of western Bengal basin, West Bengal, India: Implications for sustainable alternate drinking water sources A. Mukherjee, A.E. Fryar, B.R. Scanlon, P. Bhattacharya, R. Thunvik & A. Bhattacharya Development of a successful institutional mechanism for arsenic screening in the Brahmaputra Floodplain in Assam C. Mahanta & R. Choudhury Making economic sense for arsenic mitigation: A case study of Comilla District, Bangladesh S.V. Flanagan & Y. Zheng Section S6: Special Topic 6: Biochemical processes of high arsenic groundwater in inland basins Conveners: Huaming Guo (CN) & George N. Breit (US) Groundwater contamination by arsenic in a suburban setting in Perth, Western Australia: Geochemical changes and management implications S.J. Appleyard & S. Wong Arsenic distribution in the vadose zone of arid basins G.N. Breit & H.L. Goldstein Characteristics of iron isotopes in high arsenic groundwater systems of the Hetao basin, Inner Mongolia, P.R. China H. Guo, C.-C. Liu, H. Lu & J. Wang Enrichment of arsenic in groundwater from Datong Basin, Northern China: Indication from hydrochemical and factor analysis studies J.X. Li, Y.X. Wang, X.J. Xie & C.L. Su Adsorption-oxidation of arsenite by nano-iron-manganese binary oxide in synthesized groundwater S.Q. Kong, Y.X. Wang, M. Yu & M.L. Liu Arsenic in saline groundwater in the Yuncheng Basin, northern China X.B. Gao, C.C. Li, Y.X. Wang & F.C. Zhang Distribution and enrichment of groundwater arsenic in shallow and deep aquifers of Yinchuan Plain, China S. Han, F.C. Zhang, H. Zhang & C. Wang Arsenite oxidizing bacterium isolated from high arsenic contaminated groundwater aquifers from Datong Basin, Northern China M.Y. Duan, Y.X. Wang, X.J. Xie & Z.M. Xie Comparison of hydrogeochemical processes controlling arsenic enrichment between shallow and deep aquifers in the Hetao Basin, Inner Mongolia Y.F. Jia & H. Guo Author index