Several tons of manganese residues containing arsenic, generated by a mining company, were used as streets landfill in Santana-Ap city. The possibility of exposure of people living in these villages has led to the study of quantification of total arsenic in the soil. After digestion, the levels of arsenic were quantified by molecular absorption spectrophotometry using a hydrides generation automatic system (HG-MAS), dicyclohexilamine/CHCl3 as silver diethyldithiocarbamate (SDDC) solvent and KBH4 as reducer. The method presented good results with sensitivity (ε) of 1.10 10(4) l.mol-1.cm-1, stability of 2.96 % and other advantages in relation to the official method. The method was applied to the soil standard samples with recoveries of the 98.82 % (n=10). The soil analysis showed that 94.74 % samples showed arsenic concentrations above the value published by CETESB for residential land (50 mg.kg-1) with the average value of 682.96 mg.kg-1, ranging of 48.08 mg.kg-1 at 1,713.00 mg.kg-1 shows that the soil arsenic contamination.
Waste; contamination; SDDC
