Biovolatilization of Arsenic by Different Fungal Strains Martin Urík & Slavomír Čerňanský & Jaroslav Ševc & Alexandra Šimonovičová & Pavol Littera Received: 5 April 2007 / Accepted: 5 August 2007 / Published online: 25 August 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract The quantification of arsenic biovolatilization by microscopic filamentous fungi Aspergillus clavatus, A. niger , Trichoderma viride and Penicillium glabrum under laboratory conditions is discussed in this article. The fungi were cultivated on a liquid medium enriched with inorganic arsenic in pentavalent form (H 3 AsO 4 ). Filamentous fungi volatilized 0.010 mg to 0.067 mg and 0.093 mg to 0.262 mg of arsenic from cultivation systems enriched with 0.25 mg (5 mg.l -1 of arsenic in culture media) and 1.00 mg of arsenic (20 mg.l -1 of arsenic in culture media), respectively. These results represent the loss of arsenic after a 30-day cultivation from cultivation systems. The production of volatile arsenic derivatives by the A. niger and A. clavatus strains was also determined by hourly sorption using the sorbent Anasorb (CSC) on the 29th day of cultivation. Keywords Arsenic . Biovolatilization . Fungi . Microorganisms . Bioremediation 1 Introduction Arsenic is widely distributed in natural environments. Recently, the environmental fate and behaviour of arsenic has received increasing attention due to its toxic effects on human health (Vahter and Concha 2001; Stýblo et al. 2002; Slaninka et al. 2006). Consequently, the use of microorganisms in bioreme- diation of metal(loid) contaminated sites is gaining more attention (Huang and Huang 1996; Hiller 2003; Volesky 2003). The search for an effective treatment technology for the removal of metal(loid) ions includes the use of differing strategies including biovolatilization (Thompson-Eagle and Frankenberger 1992; Gadd and White 1993). Biovolatilization is an enzymatic conversion of organic and inorganic com- pounds of metal(loid)s into their volatile derivatives by an intracellular biochemical reaction, which is well-known as biomethylation (Cullen and Reimer 1989; Michalke et al. 2000; Mukhopadhyay et al. 2002). Biovolatilization of arsenic is a natural process, which occurs in natural as well as in anthropogenic environments, where fungi are wide- Water Air Soil Pollut (2007) 186:337–342 DOI 10.1007/s11270-007-9489-7 DO09489; No of Pages S. Čerňanský (*) : P. Littera Department of Ecosozology and Physiotactics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina 1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia e-mail: cernanskys@fns.uniba.sk M. Urík : J. Ševc Institute of Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina 1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia A. Šimonovičová Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynska dolina 1, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia