Study on the speciation of arsenic in the genuine medicinal material honeysuckle

Abstract Arsenic (As) accumulated in genuine medicinal materials will not only deteriorate the original medicinal properties of the medicinal materials but also harm the eater’s body. In this study, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technology was used to investigate the total As content of honeysuckle in four regions, namely Fengqiu, Henan, Xinmi, Shandong, and Julu, Hebei, as well as the speciation and content of As in the roots, stems, and leaves of honeysuckle. This research shows that the total As content of honeysuckle in the four regions was 0.25–0.3 mg/kg. At 1.5 mol/L H 3 PO 4 , 200 W, we performed ultrasonic extraction for 30 min at 60°C and adopted high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) to analyze the As speciation of honeysuckle plants. The soil As speciation mainly exists in the form of As( v ). In the medicinal part of honeysuckle, the amount of different As speciation is ranked in the descending order as As( v ) > As( iii ) > dimethyl As acid > monomethyl As acid > AsC. As( v ) is the main speciation, accounting for 64.5% of the total, followed by the most toxic As( iii ), which is 18.8%. As( v ) absorbed by the root system of honeysuckle from the soil tends to transform to As( iii ) when transported upwards, and the transformation process mainly occurs in the roots.