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Minerals
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Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards
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Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 June 2023) | Viewed by 10402

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cinta Barba Brioso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crystallography, Mineralogy and Agricultural Chemistry. Faculty of Chemistry, Seville University, 41012 Seville, Spain
Interests: environmental geochemistry; mineralogy; soil; remediation
Dr. Joaquin Delgado

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Crystallography, Mineralogy and Agricultural Chemistry. Faculty of Chemistry, Seville University, 41012 Seville, Spain
Interests: environmental geochemistry; mineralogy; environmental chemistry; metal retention in marsh soils

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) include metals and nonmetal elements such as arsenic (As) and selenium (Se). These elements can naturally accumulate in soils or sediments during weathering of rocks. In addition, they can be supplied by anthropic activities such as mining, industrial, urban, or agricultural practices. In this case, the establishment of contamination levels should involve a comparison with natural values of the area (background) and the proportion of PTEs reactive to environments, which is capable of mobilization under different conditions.

Nevertheless, this task is difficult to manage for legislators because the mobility of PTEs in soils is a complex phenomenon that depends on many factors, including soil properties and mineralogy, which would condition PTEs’ retention mechanisms (adsorption, coprecipitation, coating, etc.), metal/metalloid species, climate and humidity, presence of vegetation and humic substances, etc.

Most studies in this field evaluate PTEs’ mobilization or retention using extractants selective for certain mineral phases or via sequential extraction protocols that show the proportion of PTEs related to each fraction (soluble, exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, residual).

This Special Issue focuses on the following topics:

  • The main factors conditioning PTEs’ mobility under specified conditions and consequences;
  • Detailed PTEs’ partition among minerals and associated potential mobility;
  • Establishment of sources of PTEs causing pollution in soil, sediments, or waters;
  • Relationship between the presence of PTEs and the incidence of ecosystem and human diseases.

Dr. Cinta Barba Brioso
Dr. Joaquin Delgado
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. Minerals 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 2400 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

  • potentially toxic elements
  • pollution
  • background
  • leaching
  • adsorption
  • coprecipitation
  • partitioning
  • sequential extraction

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 13228 KiB  
Article
Revalorisation of Fine Recycled Concrete in Acid Mine Water Treatment: A Challenge to a Circular Economy
by Cinta Barba-Brioso, Domingo Martín, Antonio Romero-Baena, Paloma Campos and Joaquín Delgado
Minerals 2023, 13(8), 1028; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13081028 - 31 Jul 2023
Viewed by 842
Abstract
Currently, only 50% of concrete produced from construction and demolition waste is being recycled in Europe. This falls short of the European Union’s target of 70% by 2020. Moreover, this figure only considers coarse fractions (>4 mm), as technical issues arise when using [...] Read more.
Currently, only 50% of concrete produced from construction and demolition waste is being recycled in Europe. This falls short of the European Union’s target of 70% by 2020. Moreover, this figure only considers coarse fractions (>4 mm), as technical issues arise when using fine fractions. In pursuit of a complete circular life for recycled concrete, this investigation explores the potential use of fine fractions to enhance the physicochemical conditions and reduce the element concentration of acid mine drainage. Two trickling sets were prepared using a filter holder, with acidic waters passing through a layer of recycled concrete aggregates. Results revealed an immediate increase in water pH to neutral levels, a reduction in solution oxidation, and the complete, or near-complete retention, of potentially toxic elements by the substrate (with retention percentages of over 99.9% for Al and Fe, between 43.1% and 61.1% for S, over 91.1% for Zn, and over 99.1% for Cu). The experiment also showed a significant increase in Ca levels (tripling the initial value) and some Mg in the water, which could promote the subsequent precipitation of carbonates and the retention of trace metals. In summary, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of using recycled concrete aggregates in a laboratory setting. Further investigation is necessary to evaluate the feasibility of implementing this technique at the pilot scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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21 pages, 9191 KiB  
Article
Soil Contaminated with Hazardous Waste Materials at Rio Tinto Mine (Spain) Is a Persistent Secondary Source of Acid and Heavy Metals to the Environment
by Sandra Fernández-Landero, Juan Carlos Fernández-Caliani, María Inmaculada Giráldez, Emilio Morales, Cinta Barba-Brioso and Isabel González
Minerals 2023, 13(4), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13040456 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
Mineralogical analysis and laboratory-based leaching tests coupled with speciation modeling were undertaken to quantify the potential for short-term acid generation and the release of trace elements from soils heavily contaminated with mine waste at Rio Tinto. Three different waste materials were considered as [...] Read more.
Mineralogical analysis and laboratory-based leaching tests coupled with speciation modeling were undertaken to quantify the potential for short-term acid generation and the release of trace elements from soils heavily contaminated with mine waste at Rio Tinto. Three different waste materials were considered as case studies: roasted pyrite, copper slags, and leached sulfide ores. The results showed elevated values of net acid generation (up to 663 mmol H+/kg), the major pools being potential sulfidic acidity and acidity retained in jarosite. Remarkable contents of As and toxic heavy metals were found especially in the slag-contaminated soil. Copper, Zn, and Pb were the most abundant metals in the acid leach solutions resulting from mine soil-water interaction, with peak values of 55.6 mg L−1, 2.77 mg L−1, and 2.62 mg L−1, respectively. Despite the high total contents of trace elements occurring in soil, the mobile fraction was limited to maximum release values of 12.60% for Cd and 10.27% for Cu, according to the test leaching. Speciation calculations indicated that free metal ions (M2+) and sulfate species (MSO40) accounted for most of the dissolved load. Acid soil drainage is a secondary source of acid and heavy metals in the mine site and, therefore, an effective land reclamation program should ensure that acidity and metal mobility are reduced to environmentally sustainable levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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15 pages, 2493 KiB  
Article
A Machine Learning Approach for Prediction of the Quantity of Mine Waste Rock Drainage in Areas with Spring Freshet
by Can Zhang, Liang Ma and Wenying Liu
Minerals 2023, 13(3), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13030376 - 08 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1250
Abstract
A new machine learning approach was developed to predict the quantity of mine waste rock drainage using weather data as the inputs. The novelty of the approach is that it includes spring freshet (melting of snow/ice in spring) as an input to the [...] Read more.
A new machine learning approach was developed to predict the quantity of mine waste rock drainage using weather data as the inputs. The novelty of the approach is that it includes spring freshet (melting of snow/ice in spring) as an input to the drainage flow rate model. Specifically, the machine learning approach integrates the decision tree algorithm to classify the occurrence or absence of spring freshet and a long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm to predict the flow rate of mine waste rock drainage. The two algorithms are integrated by using the classification result of spring freshet as an input to the flow rate model. The machine learning approach developed was applied to predict the drainage flow rate at a case study mine in Canada. The model developed was trained with the local weather data as the inputs and the historical monitoring data of drainage flow rate as the target (output). The results show that the decision tree algorithm is able to classify the occurrence or absence of spring freshet with an accuracy of 91%. The inclusion of spring freshet as an input to the flow rate model significantly improves the performance of the flow rate model. The sensitivity tests show that changes in temperature and atmospheric precipitation influence the drainage flow rate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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12 pages, 6145 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Probabilistic Environmental Risk of Heavy Metal(loid)s in Resuspended Megacity Street Dust with Monte Carlo Simulation
by Zhenze Wang, Xinwei Lu, Yufan Yang, Bo Yu, Kai Lei, Huiyun Pan, Peng Fan and Ling Zuo
Minerals 2023, 13(3), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13030305 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1246
Abstract
To improve the ecological environment quality of industrial cities and protect the health of residents, we determined the priority control factors of heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) pollution and risk in the resuspended street dust (RSD) of Shijiazhuang, an emblematic heavy-industrial city in North China, [...] Read more.
To improve the ecological environment quality of industrial cities and protect the health of residents, we determined the priority control factors of heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) pollution and risk in the resuspended street dust (RSD) of Shijiazhuang, an emblematic heavy-industrial city in North China, according to the probabilistic risk assessment method. The results showed that the HMs studied in Shijiazhuang RSD exhibited different pollution levels, that is, Hg showed moderate-to-severe pollution and above; Zn showed moderate-and-above pollution; Co, Cu and Pb showed non-pollution to moderate pollution; while As, Cr, Mn and Ni showed no pollution. The overall contamination of HMs in the RSD presented moderate-to-above contamination levels in >94% of samples. Mercury exhibited considerable-to-very-high ecological risk. The synthetic ecological risks of the HMs were considerable-to-above. The comprehensive pollution and synthetic ecological risk of HMs in Shijiazhuang RSD were mainly caused by Hg. The carcinogenic risk of HMs in RSD to local inhabitants and their non-carcinogenic risk to children should not be ignored. Coal-related industrial sources are a priority source to control. Hg and As are priority HMs to control. We suggest that local governments should strengthen the management of coal-related industrial sources and As and Hg emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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17 pages, 2429 KiB  
Article
Source Apportionment and Probabilistic Ecological Risk of Heavy Metal(loid)s in Sediments in the Mianyang Section of the Fujiang River, China
by Huaming Du and Xinwei Lu
Minerals 2022, 12(12), 1513; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12121513 - 26 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1347
Abstract
The Mianyang section of the Fujiang River is Mianyang City’s main source of drinking water; therefore, we must ascertain this aquatic ecosystem’s heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) pollution status to protect the health of local residents. We examined 27 surface sediment samples using X-ray fluorescence [...] Read more.
The Mianyang section of the Fujiang River is Mianyang City’s main source of drinking water; therefore, we must ascertain this aquatic ecosystem’s heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) pollution status to protect the health of local residents. We examined 27 surface sediment samples using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for 10 widely concerned HMs. We applied spatial interpolation, the positive matrix factorization, and a potential ecological risk index to determine the spatial distribution, source, and potential ecological risk of HMs in the sediment, respectively. Our results showed that Mn, Co, Cr, As, Zn, and Pb were disturbed by human activities. The levels of HM content at different sites were different due to the influence of urban human activities. Our source apportionment results showed that As, Cu, Pb, and Mn principally originated from mixed sources of industry and traffic; Ba and Co were chiefly derived from architectural sources; Ni, Zn, and V were mainly from natural sources; and Cr originated from industrial sources. Mixed, architectural, natural, and industrial sources account for 25.62%, 25.93%, 24.52%, and 23.93% of the total HM content, respectively. The HMs were of low ecological risk, which were mainly caused by As and Co. In our study, the mixed source was the priority anthropogenic source, and As and Co were the priority elements for further risk control in the Mianyang section of the Fujiang River. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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16 pages, 5957 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Soil As Pollution and Investigation of Dominant Plants in Abandon Gold Mining Area
by Rui Chen, Lei Han, Zhao Liu, Yonghua Zhao, Yunmeng Zhai, Risheng Li and Longfei Xia
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1366; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111366 - 27 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1275
Abstract
Soil arsenic (As) pollution in mining areas have seriously affected the surrounding environment and human health. To explore the degree of soil As contamination and phytoremediation strategies, a study was undertaken to identify suitable native plants for the phytoremediation in mining area. Geo-accumulation [...] Read more.
Soil arsenic (As) pollution in mining areas have seriously affected the surrounding environment and human health. To explore the degree of soil As contamination and phytoremediation strategies, a study was undertaken to identify suitable native plants for the phytoremediation in mining area. Geo-accumulation index and potential ecological risk index were sed to assess the As pollution degree. As content in dominant plants was analyzed by enrichment coefficient. The results show that (1) The pulp deposition area had the most serious As pollution of soil and the largest potential ecological risk index. (2) The composition of the plant community in the study area was dominated by herbaceous plants, among which gramineous, composites and legumes are the dominant plant types in the vegetation community restoration in the mining area. (3) The plant species diversity was lower in As polluted area. (4) The plants with strong As enrichment ability were Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers., Periploca sepium Bunge, and Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv., which can be considered as As-repair plants. This study can provide a basis and reference for phytoremediation and ecological restoration of As contamination in mining areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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16 pages, 4432 KiB  
Article
Application of Different Indices for Soil Heavy Metal Pollution Risk Assessment Comparison and Uncertainty: A Case Study of a Copper Mine Tailing Site
by Yanguo Teng, Linmei Liu, Nengzhan Zheng, Hong Liu, Lijun Wu and Weifeng Yue
Minerals 2022, 12(9), 1074; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12091074 - 25 Aug 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1856
Abstract
The concentrations of Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Cr, and Cd in soil were analyzed in a mining area in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. The average metal concentrations in the soil samples were 204.07 mg/kg, 88.15 mg/kg, 14.47 mg/kg 88.52 mg/kg, 56.45 [...] Read more.
The concentrations of Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Cr, and Cd in soil were analyzed in a mining area in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. The average metal concentrations in the soil samples were 204.07 mg/kg, 88.15 mg/kg, 14.47 mg/kg 88.52 mg/kg, 56.45 mg/kg, and 0.235 mg/kg, respectively. Based on the evaluation standards, background values of the soil heavy metals, multiple soil pollution assessment indices, such as the single factor index (Pi), the geological accumulation index (Igeo), the Nemerow index (Pn), the ecological risk index (ER), and the health risk index (HI) were applied to evaluate the soil environmental risks in the study area. It was found that in different soil layer depths (0–10 cm, 10–30 cm, and 30–50 cm), the evaluation result of each index showed that there were significant spatial differences in soil pollution levels, and the focus of different indices differed greatly from each other. The Pi put 18.14% of the area at high risk of soil contamination levels, due to the fact that this index highlights the Cu pollution factor more than other indices and relatively amplifies hazards in some high-risk areas. While the Pn indicated that 61.36% of the study area was at a safe level of soil contamination, it can underestimate the regional soil heavy metal pollution risk. In order to scientifically carry out soil-pollution-risk prevention and control, it is necessary to comprehensively compare and analyze the information disclosed by different indices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobility of Potentially Toxic Elements: Environmental Hazards)
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