This study evaluated the dispersion of arsenic (As) in the environment due to the use of contaminated groundwater for the irrigation of vegetables and chicken watering in two small farms located in a rural and urban zone in southeastern Brazil. ICP-AES was used to perform As determinations in groundwater, soil and vegetables samples while ICP-OES was used for chicken meat and offal. The As concentrations in the groundwater of the urban and rural farms were above the limit allowed (0.01 mg L⁻¹) by Brazilian regulations (0.040 ± 0.019 and 0.017 ± 0.007 mg L⁻¹, respectively), while the concentrations found in the soil for the same locations were below the limit allowed (15 mg kg⁻¹) (1.071 ± 0.538 and 1.366 ± 0.141 mg kg⁻¹, respectively). Vegetable samples were within the legal limits (0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 mg kg⁻¹ for roots, leaves and fruits, respectively), with the exception of beet fruit (0.114 ± 0.031 mg kg⁻¹) in the urban farm and cassava leaf (0.339 ± 0.374 mg kg⁻¹) in the rural farm. As a general trend, roots accumulated more As compared to fruits and leaves, in that order. With the exception of chicken meat, liver and lung, all other offal analyzed (roe, gizzard, heart and skin) had As concentrations above 1.0 mg kg⁻¹, the maximum allowed limit. The As concentration’ ratio between the evaluated environmental compartments indicated that (1) irrigation acts as a point source of As for the farms; (2) the soil acts as an As accumulator compartment and (3) the plant roots act as a barrier to prevent As translocation to its aerial part. Since the highest As concentrations were found in the least consumed chicken offal, we can conclude that this does not pose a risk to the community in the surrounding study area, but they were warned about our data and its implications to their health.

本研究评估了在巴西东南部农村和城市地区的两个小农场中，由于使用受污染的地下水灌溉蔬菜和给鸡浇水，砷 (As) 在环境中的扩散。ICP-AES 用于地下水、土壤和蔬菜样品中的 As 测定，而 ICP-OES 用于鸡肉和内脏。城市和农村农场地下水中的砷浓度高于巴西法规允许的限值（0.01 mg L ^-1）（分别为 0.040 ± 0.019 和 0.017 ± 0.007 mg L ^-1），而在土壤中发现的浓度相同位置低于允许的限值 (15 mg kg ^-1 ) (1.071 ± 0.538 和 1.366 ± 0.141 mg kg ^-1，分别）。蔬菜样品是法律的范围内（0.3，0.2和0.1毫克千克^-1为根，叶和果实，分别地），用甜菜水果（0.114±0.031毫克公斤除外^-1）在市区农场和木薯叶（ 0.339 ± 0.374 mg kg ^-1 ) 在农村农场。一般来说，根比果实和叶子积累更多，按这个顺序。除鸡肉、肝脏和肺脏外，所有其他分析的内脏（鱼子、胗、心脏和皮肤）的砷浓度均高于 1.0 mg kg ^-1，最大允许限制。评估环境区划之间的 As 浓度比表明 (1) 灌溉是农场 As 的点源；(2) 土壤充当 As 蓄积室； (3) 植物根部充当屏障，防止 As 转移到其地上部分。由于在食用最少的鸡内脏中发现了最高的 As 浓度，我们可以得出结论，这不会对周围研究区域的社区构成风险，但他们被警告我们的数据及其对他们健康的影响。