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Acid Mine Drainage: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities
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Acid Mine Drainage: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 March 2023) | Viewed by 8014

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ana Luís

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mining, Mechanic, Energetic and Construction Engineering, Higher Technical School of Engineering, University of Huelva & Scientific and Technological Center of Huelva (CCTH), 21819 Huelva, Spain
Interests: ecology; water quality; environment; environmental impact assessment; wastewater treatment; environmental monitoring; water treatment; environmental pollution; environmental analysis; water analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Nuno Durães

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences & GEOBIOTEC Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: environmental geochemistry; potential toxic elements; mining environmnetal impacts; acid mine water; biogeochemistry; mineralogy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ferreira da Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences & GEOBIOTEC Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: hydrochemistry; geochemical assessment; medical geology; geostatistics; inorganic pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The acid mine drainage (AMD) process is a huge environmental problem of worldwide relevance, associated with coal and sulphide mines when sulphide minerals are exposed to the aerobic conditions at the surface. The oxidation of such minerals generates extremely acid waters and leachates, where chemolithotrophic bacteria play a key role in accelerating the rate of acidity generation. Notwithstanding these inhospitable conditions, the waters affected by AMD support a wide range of life forms (e.g., green algae, diatoms, bacteria, fungi)—that is, well-adapted species that present physiological and genetic strategies to overcome metal(loid)/acidic pH effects. The diagnosis of AMD contamination levels through the use of biological indicators such as diatoms has proved to be an effective monitoring tool to establish preventive and corrective measures at these sites. In contrast, the intrinsic mechanisms that make these extremophiles able to survive and adapt to these mining environments could help to define the existence of past life on Mars, where surface conditions are somehow analogous to these environments. Finally, and apart from the degradation scenarios left by AMD, these waters can act as a secondary source of metallic resources in an increasingly mineral-dependent world.

Dr. Ana Luís
Dr. Nuno Durães
Prof. Eduardo Ferreira da Silva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • acidic pH
  • metals
  • (bio)geochemical processes and modelling
  • extremophiles
  • water
  • diatoms
  • sediment
  • bacteria
  • fungi
  • green algae

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7833 KiB  
Article
Toxicity, Physiological, and Ultrastructural Effects of Arsenic and Cadmium on the Extremophilic Microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila
by Silvia Díaz, Patricia De Francisco, Sanna Olsson, Ángeles Aguilera, Elena González-Toril and Ana Martín-González
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(5), 1650; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051650 - 03 Mar 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3648
Abstract
The cytotoxicity of cadmium (Cd), arsenate (As(V)), and arsenite (As(III)) on a strain of Chlamydomonas acidophila, isolated from the Rio Tinto, an acidic environment containing high metal(l)oid concentrations, was analyzed. We used a broad array of methods to produce complementary information: cell [...] Read more.
The cytotoxicity of cadmium (Cd), arsenate (As(V)), and arsenite (As(III)) on a strain of Chlamydomonas acidophila, isolated from the Rio Tinto, an acidic environment containing high metal(l)oid concentrations, was analyzed. We used a broad array of methods to produce complementary information: cell viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation measures, ultrastructural observations, transmission electron microscopy energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (TEM–XEDS), and gene expression. This acidophilic microorganism was affected differently by the tested metal/metalloid: It showed high resistance to arsenic while Cd was the most toxic heavy metal, showing an LC50 = 1.94 µM. Arsenite was almost four-fold more toxic (LC50= 10.91 mM) than arsenate (LC50 = 41.63 mM). Assessment of ROS generation indicated that both arsenic oxidation states generate superoxide anions. Ultrastructural analysis of exposed cells revealed that stigma, chloroplast, nucleus, and mitochondria were the main toxicity targets. Intense vacuolization and accumulation of energy reserves (starch deposits and lipid droplets) were observed after treatments. Electron-dense intracellular nanoparticle-like formation appeared in two cellular locations: inside cytoplasmic vacuoles and entrapped into the capsule, around each cell. The chemical nature (Cd or As) of these intracellular deposits was confirmed by TEM–XEDS. Additionally, they also contained an unexpected high content in phosphorous, which might support an essential role of poly-phosphates in metal resistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Acid Mine Drainage: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities)
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15 pages, 3015 KiB  
Article
Physico-Chemical Influence of Surface Water Contaminated by Acid Mine Drainage on the Populations of Diatoms in Dams (Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain)
by Maria José Rivera, Ana Teresa Luís, José Antonio Grande, Aguasanta Miguel Sarmiento, José Miguel Dávila, Juan Carlos Fortes, Francisco Córdoba, Jesus Diaz-Curiel and María Santisteban
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(22), 4516; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224516 - 15 Nov 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2483
Abstract
Twenty-three water dams located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt were studied during March 2012 (early spring) in order to carry out an environmental assessment based on diatom communities and to define the relationships between these biological communities and the physico-chemical characteristics of the [...] Read more.
Twenty-three water dams located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt were studied during March 2012 (early spring) in order to carry out an environmental assessment based on diatom communities and to define the relationships between these biological communities and the physico-chemical characteristics of the dam surface water. This is the first time that a diatom inventory has been done for dams affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Spanish part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). It was found that the pH was the main factor influencing the behaviour of the diatom communities. Then, using a dbRDA approach it was possible to organize the aggrupation of diatoms into four groups in response to the physico-chemical conditions of the ecosystem, especially pH: (1) Maris, Aac, Gos, Cmora (pH 2–3); (2) Andc, San, And, Dpin (pH 3–4.5); (3) Gran, Pleon, Oliv, Lagu, Chan, SilI, SilII, Joya, Gar, Agrio, Camp, Corum (pH 4.5–6); (4) Herr, Diq I, Diq II (pH 6–7). The obtained results confirmed the response of benthic diatom communities to changes in the physico-chemical characteristics of surface water, and helped to understand the role of diatoms as indicators of the degree of AMD contamination in those 23 dams. Special attention was given to those that have an acidophilic or acid-tolerant profile (pH 2–3 and pH 3–4.5) such as Pinnularia aljustrelica, Pinnularia acidophila, Pinnularia acoricola and Eunotia exigua, which are the two groups found in the most AMD contaminated dams. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Acid Mine Drainage: Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities)
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