Electrical wire explosion (EWE) is a simple and clean process to produce metal nanoparticles. In this study, EWE was employed to synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles to examine their potential as adsorbents for arsenic removal from water. The explosion of iron wire in air produced magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles composed of magnetite (55.8 wt%) and maghemite (44.2 wt%) without antiferromagnetic hematite or wusite phases. The average particle size was 34 nm, and the saturation magnetization was 91.9 emu/g. The arsenic adsorption experiment revealed that the maximum adsorption capacity, q(max), for As(III) and As(V) was 2.90 and 3.05 mg/g (0.25 and 0.27 mg/m(2)), respectively. We have demonstrated that EWE is a useful alternative method for the one-step production of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which can be used as adsorbents in arsenic removal from water. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.