Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Floreat, Western Australia, Australia.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2013 Nov;32(11):2602-10. doi: 10.1002/etc.2342. Epub 2013 Sep 9.
Prior to the productive use of iron- and steel-making slags as environmental amendments, a risk assessment supported by material characterization concomitant with leaching and ecotoxicological testing is necessary. Five iron- and steel-making slags were characterized geochemically, and the leachability of their elemental constituents was assessed. The toxicity of slag leachate to microalgae (Chlorella sp.), cladocerans (Ceriodaphnia dubia), and bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) was related to elemental composition. Slag leachates with the highest concentrations of dissolved elements were the most toxic (10% effective concentration [EC10] ∼1%), whereas those with the lowest concentrations of elements were the least toxic (EC10 63-85%). It was not possible to determine which elements caused the observed toxicity; however, comparisons with contaminant guidelines and published toxicity data identified several elements of potential environmental concern. Low to moderate activities were measured for radionuclides in the U and Th decay chains in slags. Based on these data, some of the slags examined herein are potentially suitable for use as environmental amendments following ≥10 times dilution to ameliorate potential toxic effects because of leachate pH.
在将钢铁渣作为环境改良剂进行生产应用之前，需要进行风险评估，该评估需要借助材料特性分析，并配合浸出和生态毒理学测试。本研究对五种钢铁渣进行了地球化学特征分析，并评估了其元素成分的浸出率。用微藻（小球藻）、枝角类（大型溞）和细菌（发光菌）测试了渣浸出液的毒性，结果表明浸出液的毒性与元素成分有关。溶解元素浓度最高的渣浸出液毒性最大（10%有效浓度[EC10] ∼1%），而元素浓度最低的渣浸出液毒性最小（EC10 63-85%）。虽然无法确定是哪些元素导致了观察到的毒性，但与污染物指南和已发表的毒性数据进行比较后，确定了一些具有潜在环境关注的元素。在渣中铀和钍衰变链中的放射性核素的活度较低且适中。基于这些数据，本文研究的部分渣经过 10 倍以上的稀释后，可用于环境改良，以减轻浸出液 pH 值导致的潜在毒性影响，因为稀释后这些渣具有潜在的环境适用性。
