RESUMEN
A commercial arsenic field kit designed to measure inorganic arsenic (iAs) in water was modified into a field deployable method (FDM) to measure iAs in rice. While the method has been validated to give precise and accurate results in the laboratory, its on-site field performance has not been evaluated. This study was designed to test the method on-site in Malawi in order to evaluate its accuracy and precision in determination of iAs on-site by comparing with a validated reference method and giving original data on inorganic arsenic in Malawian rice and rice-based products. The method was validated by using the established laboratory-based HPLC-ICPMS. Statistical tests indicated there were no significant differences between on-site and laboratory iAs measurements determined using the FDM (pâ¯=â¯0.263, άâ¯=â¯0.05) and between on-site measurements and measurements determined using HPLC-ICP-MS (pâ¯=â¯0.299, άâ¯=â¯0.05). This method allows quick (within 1â¯h) and efficient screening of rice containing iAs concentrations on-site.