Arsenic cycle

[7] Human use arsenic in pesticides, wood preservatives, metal treatment, paint, and coal-based power plants.

[2] Anthropogenic residues and discharges from coal-based power plants, mining, and smelting can contaminate rivers, lakes, streams and soil.

[1] Anthropogenic As emissions originate from steel and glass production, and forest and grassland burning.

[10][11] Arsenic is a metalloid with an atomic number of 33, and its common oxidation states are +3 or +5, as arsenate(As III) and arsenite(As V).

[13] The World Health Organization recognizes that inorganic arsenic is extremely toxic for humans (EPA maximum of 10 ppb in water) and detrimental to aquatic life.

Arsenic biogeochemical cycle with fluxes in kg/yr and reservoirs in kg. Fluxes are depicted with black arrows, while anthropogenic fluxes are red. Fluxes are between the lithosphere, pedosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. [ 2 ]