Arsenic in Nova Scotian groundwater.

The concentration of total soluble inorganic arsenic (i.e. arsenate plus arsenite) was measured in duplicate well water samples of 94 residents in Halifax County, N.S. An ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate-methyl isobutyl ketone graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometric procedure and also an automated hydride-evolution electrothermal-atomisation atomic-absorption spectrophotometric method were used to monitor the arsenic level in the ground water supplies. Of the 94 samples analyzed, 66 samples (70%) exceeded the Canadian maximum acceptable drinking water guideline of 50 ng As/ml.