39B-22

A. A. CARBONELL-BARRACHINA¹, F. M. Burlo, E. Lopez, I. Guijarro, D. Martinez-Romero, D. Valero, and F. Martinez-Sanchez. (1) Departamento Tecnologia Agroalimentaria. Division Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Carretera de Beniel, km 3.2, Orihuela. Alicante, 03312, Spain

At the present moment, there is a great concern about arsenic (As) pollution in our country due to a recent environmental accident in a pyrite mine located in the city of Aznalcóllar, Sevilla (southern Spain) which affected the World Heritage site of the Dońana National and Natural Parks. Our research is focused on establishing the pathways between the sources of contamination and man. These links mainly include human food chain and drinking surface and ground waters. In this work arsenic (applied as four different chemical species: arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid, and dimethylarsinic acid) accumulation in three edible vegetables: tomatoes, radishes and turnips is studied. The As concentration in tomatoes treated with inorganic sources were within the range considered as normal in food crops; however, the As concentration after treatments with organic species was close to or even above the maximum recommended limit (1 mg/kg fresh weight). In both radish and turnips the statement that toxicity limits plant As uptake to safe levels was not confirmed in our study, and specially inorganic species caused As accumulations as high as 116 mg/kg dry weight. Our results also demonstrate that there is a significant difference between As concentrations caused by adsorption (outer root skin) and those caused by absorption (inner root), with the highest levels being due to adsorption onto the root surfaces. Finally, it seems that As accumulation in edible food crops depends on plant As sensitivity and tolerance. Therefore, when growing vegetables or fruits in As-contaminated orchard soils precaution must be taken in selecting the crops and a preliminary study on the soil As speciation is recommended because toxicity not always limits As accumulation to safe levels.