Arsenic speciation in atmospheric aerosols at the geysers

Abstract

Geothermal energy production in California has been identified as a major source of arsenic by the California Air resources Board. New regulations have been implemented by the State of California, which require information on ambient levels and emissions of inorganic arsenic. However, these laws consider only total arsenic and do not take into account the potential differences in toxicity and perhaps even carcinogenicity of the different arsenic species present in the ambient atmosphere. In response to that need, atmospheric particulate m1111er samples were collected at The Geysers geothermal development area in Lake County California over a two month period In 1989. This paper describes those results and provides, for the first time, insight into the atmospheric loadings of the inorganic species of arsenic, As(lll) and As(V), at geothermal power facilities.