Trimethylarsine is the volatile byproduct of microbial action on inorganic forms of arsenic which are naturally occurring in rocks and soils at the parts-per-million level.[4] Trimethylarsine has been reported only at trace levels (parts per billion) in landfill gas from Germany, Canada, and the U.S.A., and is the major arsenic-containing compound in the gas.[5][6][7]
Trimethylarsine is pyrophoric due to the exothermic nature of the following reaction, which initiates combustion:
AsMe3 + 1/2 O2 → OAsMe3 (TMAO)
History
Poisoning events due to a gas produced by certain microbes was assumed to be associated with the arsenic in paint. In 1893 the Italian physician Bartolomeo Gosio published his results on "Gosio gas" that was subsequently shown to contain trimethylarsine.[8] Under wet conditions, the mold Microascus brevicaulis produces significant amounts of methyl arsines via methylation[9] of arsenic-containing inorganic pigments, especially Paris green and Scheele's Green, which were once used in indoor wallpapers. Newer studies show that trimethylarsine has a low toxicity and could therefore not account for the death and the severe health problems observed in the 19th century.[10][11]
Safety
Trimethylarsine is potentially hazardous,[12][13][14] although its toxicity is often overstated.[10]
References
^Hoshino, Masataka (1991). "A mass spectrometric study of the decomposition of trimethylarsine (TMAs) with triethylgallium (TEGa)". Journal of Crystal Growth. 110 (4): 704–712. Bibcode:1991JCrGr.110..704H. doi:10.1016/0022-0248(91)90627-H.
^V. V. Gavrilenko, L. A. Chekulaeva, and I. V. Pisareva, "Highly efficient synthesis of trimethylarsine" Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 2122–2123, 1996.
^Cullen, W.R., Reimer, K.J. (1989). "Arsenic speciation in the environment". Chem. Rev. 89 (4): 713–764. doi:10.1021/cr00094a002. hdl:10214/2162.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Feldmann, J., Cullen, W.R. (1997). "Occurrence of Volatile Transition Metal Compounds in Landfill Gas: Synthesis of Molybdenum and Tungsten Carbonyls in the". Environ. Sci. Technol. 31 (7): 2125–2129. doi:10.1021/es960952y.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Pinel-Raffaitin, P., LeHecho, I., Amouroux, D., Potin-Gautier, M. (2007). "Distribution and Fate of Inorganic and Organic Arsenic Species in Landfill Leachates and Biogases". Environ. Sci. Technol. 41 (13): 4536–4541. Bibcode:2007EnST...41.4536P. doi:10.1021/es0628506. PMID17695893.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Khoury, J.T.; et al. (April 7, 2008). "Analysis of Volatile Arsenic Compounds in Landfill Gas". Odors & Air Emissions 2008. Phoenix, Arizona: Water Environment Federation.
^ abWilliam R. Cullen; Ronald Bentley (2005). "The toxicity of trimethylarsine: an urban myth". J. Environ. Monit. 7 (1): 11–15. doi:10.1039/b413752n. PMID15693178.
^Frederick Challenger; Constance Higginbottom; Louis Ellis (1933). "The formation of organo-metalloidal compounds by microorganisms. Part I. Trimethylarsine and dimethylethylarsine". J. Chem. Soc.: 95–101. doi:10.1039/JR9330000095.
^Andrewes, Paul; et al. (2003). "Dimethylarsine and Trimethylarsine Are Potent Genotoxins In Vitro". Chem. Res. Toxicol. 16 (8): 994–1003. doi:10.1021/tx034063h. PMID12924927.
^Irvin, T.Rick; et al. (1995). "In-vitro Prenatal Toxicity of Trimethylarsine, Trimethylarsine Oxide and Trimethylarsine Sulfide". Applied Organometallic Chemistry. 9 (4): 315–321. doi:10.1002/aoc.590090404.
^Hiroshi Yamauchi; Toshikazu Kaise; Keiko Takahashi; Yukio Yamamura (1990). "Toxicity and metabolism of trimethylarsine in mice and hamsters". Fundamental and Applied Toxicology. 14 (2): 399–407. doi:10.1016/0272-0590(90)90219-A. PMID2318361.
