Gerencia Química, Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, CP 1650, San Martín, Prov. de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Environ Pollut. 2010 May;158(5):1105-18. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.01.028.
Considering the toxic effects of arsenic, the World Health Organization recommends a maximum concentration of 10 microg L(-1) of arsenic in drinking water. Latin American populations present severe health problems due to consumption of waters with high arsenic contents. The physicochemical properties of surface and groundwaters are different from those of other more studied regions of the planet, and the problem is still publicly unknown. Methods for arsenic removal suitable to be applied in Latin American waters are here summarized and commented. Conventional technologies (oxidation, coagulation-coprecipitation, adsorption, reverse osmosis, use of ion exchangers) are described, but emphasis is made in emergent decentralized economical methods as the use of inexpensive natural adsorbents, solar light technologies or biological treatments, as essential to palliate the situation in poor, isolated and dispersed populations of Latin American regions.
考虑到砷的毒性作用，世界卫生组织建议饮用水中砷的最大浓度为 10 微克/升。由于饮用高砷含量的水，拉丁美洲人口面临严重的健康问题。地表水和地下水的物理化学性质与地球上其他研究较多的地区不同，而且这个问题尚未被公众所知。本文总结并评论了适用于拉丁美洲水的除砷方法。描述了常规技术（氧化、混凝沉淀、吸附、反渗透、离子交换剂的使用），但强调了新兴的分散经济型方法的重要性，如使用廉价的天然吸附剂、太阳光技术或生物处理，以缓解拉丁美洲贫困、孤立和分散的人群的状况。
