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Water pollution

Sulfur being an overlooked promoter of groundwater arsenic contamination

Iron-rich aquifers are commonly thought to be ‘arsenic-safe’ because of the strong sorption of arsenite and arsenate to iron (hydr)oxides. However, sulfate reduction can accelerate arsenic mobilization and increase arsenic mobility by formation of poorly sorbing thioarsenic species

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Fig. 1: Conceptual model for the formation of thioarsenites and thioarsenates coupled to a cryptic sulfur cycle.

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Correspondence to Britta Planer-Friedrich.

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Planer-Friedrich, B. Sulfur being an overlooked promoter of groundwater arsenic contamination. Nat Water 1, 134–135 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00031-6

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