Bioconcentration and arsenic speciation analysis in ragworm, Hediste diversicolor (Muller 1776).

This study focused on bioconcentrations of arsenic in Hediste diversicolor (Müller 1776) after exposure to three different molecule solutions: arsenate, dimethyl-arsinate and arsenobetaine. Speciation analysis was carried out after exposing the organisms to these solutions in order to investigate their arsenic biotransformation capacity. Arsenic reached to the maximum level in these tissues after 15 days' exposure to a solution of 100 μg L(-1) of arsenobetaine, although a significant increase was obtained in worms exposed to arsenate. Speciation analysis shows that trimethyl-arsine oxide is the slowest detoxification phase recorded in experiment.