Potential health problems associated with consuming arsenic include various types of cancer which affect organs such as cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidneys, nasal passages, liver, and prostate. Other health problems may result, as well.

Granted most water coming from public water systems ought to pose no threats (at least with arsenic content…) but no one monitors the amount of arsenic found in ground water and reports to private well owners that their drinking water contains a potentially lethal — and definitely unwanted — contaminant.

So, without warning, arsenic, a colorless, odorless and tasteless semi-metal can creep into a home’s water supply and slowly poison all who drink from the home’s water well.

We have always encouraged private well owners to test for the presence of arsenic in their well water and we now carry a variety of arsenic tests kits in our Water Test Kit Store, all capable of detecting dissolved arsenic levels below the USEPA Maximum Contaminant Level of 10ppb (parts per billion).

Below you will find a list of the full-size Arsenic Quick^TM test kits that we currently carry along with their detection ranges:

• Arsenic Quick^TM – 0.0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, >0.5, >>0.5 ppm (mg/L)
   
• Arsenic Econo-Quick^TM – 0, 0.010, 0.025, 0.050, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 ppm (mg/L)
   
• Arsenic Quick^TM II – < 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 20, 25, 30, 40, >50, >80, >120, >160 ppb (µg/L)
   
• Arsenic Low-Range Quick^TM – <2, 4, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, >150, >300 ppb (µg/L)
   

• Arsenic Low-Range Quick^TM II – <0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, >20, >30, >50 ppb (µg/L)

In addition to the full-size Arsenic Quick^TM Test Kits, we also carry smaller versions that contain either 2 or 5 tests. See below for our current offerings:

• Arsenic Quick^TM – 2 Water Tests, 5 Water Tests & 5 Wood Tests
   

• Arsenic Low-Range Quick^TM – 2 Water Tests

Now that you know where you can obtain an arsenic test kit for drinking water, well water, surface water, soil, and even wood samples, some of you may wonder how arsenic would get into your water in the first place.

Where arsenic comes from

As we said earlier, arsenic has no taste, no odor, and imparts no color when present in a water sample. This naturally occurring element appears on the periodic table as a semi-metal and depending on location, one can easily find it present in rocks, soil, air, animal and/or plant samples.

Various industrial processes (mining, smelting of other metals, burning of coal, etc. may release arsenic into the environment), agricultural activities (certain fertilizers may contain arsenic), and consumer products (certain types of dyes, paints, metal finishing products, soaps/detergents, wood preservatives, etc. may contain arsenic) also contribute to increased environmental arsenic levels.

Water simply has to pass through areas where any of the aforementioned (or other) products or activities exist and it will undoubtedly carry off some of whatever it encountered along its path.

Additionally, as more and more areas with already scarce water resources get further developed, heavy water usage causes aquifer levels to drop and expose igneous (volcanic) rock to air, an event that allows igneous rock to form water soluble arsenic on its surfaces. Then, once water levels get restored (as happens during areas’ rainy months), the water soluble arsenic gets picked up by the water.

Moral of the story

As always, and as will always be the case, the safety of our water supply faces constant dangers from innumerable sources of contamination… and only regular testing of your own water supply with drinking water test kits will help to ensure that the water you drink does not contain any unwanted and/or potentially harmful surprises.

Item #: ARSENIC-QUICK-2
Manufacturer: SenSafe / WaterWorks
Manufacturer’s Product Number: 481396-2, this is on your website.

I purchased as Quick part number 481297-2. Is this the same test as above ? In the 2006(AWWA) article– it says the as quick was replaced with Quick 2 — problems with the strips and foil packaging. The box or instr. do not indicate it is the quick 2 . So do I have the correct test? When I called ITS , they told me they do not have that part number, yet it is found on numerous sites. Is 481297-2 the quick 2 with the new packaging for the foil. I want the most accurate test

Thanks, Tana

We thank you for contacting us with this question, Tana, and feel confident that others besides yourself have had similar questions regarding the manner in which ITS opted to label their line of Arsenic Quick Test Kits. Hopefully the information below will clear things up for you.

The ‘-2’ you mentioned refers to the number of tests contained in the kit — which means you purchased a kit called the Arsenic Quick Low Range and it contains a total of two tests.

If you want the Arsenic Quick II, then from what we know, you would need to purchase ITS part number 481303. As packaged by ITS, that kit contains 50 tests and should have the following detection levels on its color chart: <1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 20, 25, 30, 40, >50, >80, >120, >160 ppb (µg/L).

You will find more information on the Arsenic Quick II Test Kit on the following web page: http://arsenic-test-kit.com/full-arsenic-quick-II-50-tests.shtml

You also mentioned that you want ‘the most accurate test’. All of the Arsenic Quick tests bearing the EPA/ETV certification should give accurate results when used properly. The differences between the kits lie in the precision offered by each kit and in the low level detection limit offered by each kit.

No matter which Arsenic Quick Test Kit you choose, please keep in mind that the EPA action limit for dissolved inorganic arsenic in water currently sits at 10ppb so if you detect arsenic concentrations greater than 10ppb, we suggest having your water tested immediately by a certified water testing laboratory.

Then, depending upon the results of the ‘official’ analysis, definitely select the correct water treatment system (arsenic filter or arsenic remediation system) for your individual water quality situation. Not all arsenic reduction/removal filters work the same and not all will work in every situation!

In addition to high levels of chromium-6 found across the Coachella Valley, residents in east valley also cope with high well-water concentrations of another naturally occurring element: arsenic.

Thousands of residents live in areas that contain hazardous levels of arsenic in their groundwater, a problem that would cost millions to remedy.

In January 2010, Riverside County environmental health officials knew of wells at 19 mobile home and RV parks that had tested positive for dangerous levels of arsenic ranging from 12 to 91 parts per billion, a Desert Sun probe found.

Studies have linked arsenic, a naturally occurring tasteless and odorless element, to risks of cancer when ingested over decades at levels of more than 10 parts per billion, according to state and federal health officials. Children are even more susceptible because of their low body weight.

Federal health officials used to consider any levels of arsenic above 50 parts per billion unsafe. In 2000, they lowered the standard to 10 parts per billion, based on new studies. ( source )

For those who do not already know, “The USEPA has determined that ingesting arsenic in too high a quantity can make a person very ill and possibly even cause death. Throughout history, and possibly even in some countries today, you can find arsenic listed as an ingredient in mouse and rat poison. Additionally, the USEPA classifies arsenic as a carcinogenic compound.” ( source )

Testing for Arsenic?

As usual we will bring up one of our favorite water test kit lines, the Arsenic Quick line of home, field and industrial water testing kits for As⁺³ and As⁺⁵ dissolved in water.

We like this product Arsenic Quick product line for several reasons including, but not limited to, its use of food grade reagents for improved safety, its fast and easy testing procedures, its ability to detect very low concentrations w/o the use of a meter, and its affordability.

For under $20 the average person can get a test kit that will let them know if their well water contains unsafe levels of dissolved arsenic and the testing won’t take more than around 15 minutes.

For those in need of more definitive and potentially more legally defensible water testing options, contact your local health department for a list of local laboratories certified to perform the sort of water testing you require. And, as always, if no local labs exist, companies like National Testing Laboratories offer comprehensive water testing packages that include tests for a large number potential of water quality contaminants and critical water quality parameters.

Reducing Arsenic levels in Water?

Few methods for point-of-use arsenic reduction/removal exist for homeowners except for units such as the Pentek RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis System which bears NSF 58 Certification for the reduction of unwanted drinking water contaminants such as Pentavalent Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium, Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity.

Other, more robust 4 and 5 stage reverse osmosis systems such as the Goldline 5-Stage Reverse Osmosis System also bear the NSF 58 mark and include additional features such as pre and post carbon block filters for additional water polishing.

Pentek RO-3500 Reverse Osmosis Water System