Quite honestly we do not know if Arsenic Quick Test Kits would test for arsenic in wine for two main reasons:

1) Ingredients in the wine sample may cause a more ‘violent’ bubbling than water and result in the test area on the suspended test pad getting wet. If the test pad gets wet, the test becomes invalid.

2) The sample may contain organically bound arsenic and the test kit cannot detect organically bound arsenic. We suspect that the wines contain organically bound arsenic because as far as we know, it is the free dissolved arsenic that health officials know causes health issues and hopefully someone would have noticed dangerous free arsenic levels in such a highly regulated industry before now.

So why did the tests performed by the labs on those wines come up ‘high’?

Our ‘guess’: During laboratory analysis samples get ‘prepared’ in various manners which break down the bonds between organic matter and contaminants like arsenic so that the contaminants may get detected in their ‘natural’ (i.e. free) state… and quantified.

Does organically bound arsenic pose risks?

We suppose it must in some way, but as of yet we have not read very many articles on the matter and therefore must refrain from rendering an opinion on the matter.

Our advice?

Arsenic is arsenic, and it sounds bad no matter how you slice it. None of us drink a lot of wine, but, should the day come when beer starts showing up with high test results for arsenic, we will choose our beers accordingly. 🙂

"Hi i like to test ouwer water pit op arseen."

Thank you, 'moeijes', for your question about testing for arsenic.  At this time we offer several different arsenic test kits in the Arsenic Test Kits section of our store.  We carry kits capable of testing 2, 5, and 100 samples of water.

Arsenic Quick Test Kit (100 Tests)

Today’s inquiry comes to us from an aspiring environmental scientist who asked a very shrewd question about a product that we believe very strongly in: Arsenic Quick™ test kits for drinking water.

‘Kelley’, contacted us from the Southwestern US and asked, “Recently a local news channel did a story on arsenic in drinking water in our area and it sounded like our water could really have problems. My family and most families where we live all have well water and after asking some neighbors about it none of them or us have a clue about arsenic or testing for arsenic. I found your site via a google search and you talk a lot about arsenic quick. Is that a product that I could use to help my family and neighbors learn if we have a problem with arsenic? If so why do you recommend it more than others on the market?”

Thank you, Kelley, for contacting us about the Arsenic Quick line of arsenic in drinking water test kits. Let us first say that we have USED most of the test kits ourselves and yes, we believe very strongly in their ability to help the average person get a handle on any arsenic concentrations that may lurk in their water supply… and here’s why:

• As we stated, we have used the kits ourselves — successfully and with ease.
   
• The reagents in the kit pose less of an environmental hazard when compared to ingredients included with competing kits on the market.
   
• EPA/ETV Test Verified Chemistry — The chemistry and procedures used by the Arsenic Quick Test Kit has undergone a rigorous review by a division of the EPA and that showed both the chemistry and procedures simple enough for testing personnel of all levels to carry out and obtain accurate, repeatable results.
   
• Please feel free to read through the details contained in both the EPA/ETV Verification Statement and the EPA/ETV Verification Report to see exactly what the EPA said about the Arsenic Quick Test Kit.
   
• Arsenic Quick has a shorter and simpler test time than any other comparable arsenic test kit we have seen on the market.
   
• Users of the Arsenic Quick line of test kits can choose from a number of kits ranging from 2-test versions all the way up to 300-test versions… and also from a range of kits with varying detection ranges designed to look for high levels of arsenic in water or very, very low levels of arsenic in water.
   
• Versions of the Arsenic Quick test have gotten incorporated into Compliance Guidelines for arsenic monitoring in at least two US States which means water systems required to monitor arsenic levels in drinking water may use specific versions of the Arsenic Quick test for reporting purposes.

We truly do not believe you can go wrong with the Arsenic Quick line of test kits, Kelley. We wish you the best with all your arsenic testing and let us know if you have any other questions!

Denise asked, “I am the President of the [blocked for privacy reasons] homeowners association in [blocked for privacy reasons] and several of our members mentioned wanting to test for arsenic in the last community meeting. The local paper published an article very recently about water quality and how arsenic runs quite common in these parts so no everyone wants to do a test. One person told us you have sets of 2 tests and sets of 5 tests for sale at around $5 per test but really we need one test per home and we have about 85 homes to test. Do you have a more economical; solution available? Maybe a larger economy pack or maybe can we get a group rate?”

Thank you, Denise, for your inquiry and in these rough economic times we can certainly appreciate wanting to save a dollar or three wherever possible!

On a personal note, we find it wonderful that your community has the ability to get together and address a potential water quality issue like arsenic in well water as a collective body rather than as a group of individuals all doing one thing or another and never really pooling the collected data for useful analysis.

Getting to your question, though, yes, we do carry a number of larger arsenic test kits. From what you described, the ‘full’ Arsenic Quick™ Test Kit that contains 100 tests should work just fine for your needs. It has the same detection range as the 2 & 5 test versions — and mathematically adds up to a much better bargain than buying a whole bunch of the smaller versions.

Other suggested tests for well water?

Ground water may contain an insane number of contaminants — potentially. Some of the basic things that most folks concern themselves with, though, are as follows: Nitrates/Nitrites, Water Metals, Total Iron, Manganese, Coliform Bacteria, Hydrogen Sulfide, pH & Total Alkalinity, Copper, and (of course) Arsenic.

Keep in mind that the quality of well water and ground water can change at any time and that in many cases those who drink/use the water may not notice a change — especially in the case of a drinking water contaminant like arsenic which has no discernible taste, color or odor.

Therefore experts in the well water industry and health officials all pretty much agree that owners of private wells need to test their water on a regular basis.

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.