Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
Department of Water Protection, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2017 Sep;24(26):21445-21458. doi: 10.1007/s11356-017-9782-y. Epub 2017 Jul 25.
Copper mining generates large quantities of waste, tailings, and acid outflows causing long-term environmental impacts and potential threats to human health. Valea Şesei is the largest tailing impoundment in Romania, created by flooding the valley (known as Valea Şesei) of the Metalliferous Mountains (a division of the Apuseni Mountains) with copper mining waste. The present study (i) estimated the total volume of tailings in this area; (ii) screened the concentration of 65 elements (rare earth and platinum group elements, alkali metals and alkali earth metals, transition and post-transition metals and metalloids) and cyanide concentrations in wastewater samples collected from tailing impoundment; (iii) evaluated the toxicity of these water samples using five in vitro bioassays employing human cells isolated from healthy donors and a short-term (1 h) exposure model. The sampled waters were highly acidic (pH 2.1-4.9) and had high electrical conductivity (2.80-15.61 mS cm). No cyanides were detected in any sample. Water samples collected from the stream (AMD) inflowing to the tailing impoundment were characterized by the greatest concentrations of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition and post-transition metals, metalloids, rare earth elements, and noble metal group. At other sites, the elemental concentrations were lower but remained high enough to pose a relevant risk. The greatest magnitude of in vitro toxic effects was induced by AMD. Observed alterations included redox imbalance in human neutrophils followed by lipid peroxidation and decreased cell survival, significant aggregation of red blood cells, and increased prothrombin time. The study highlights that Valea Şesei is a large sink for toxic elements, posing environmental and health risks, and requiring action to prevent further release of chemicals and to initiate restoration of the area.
铜矿开采产生了大量的废物、尾矿和酸性流出物，对环境造成了长期影响，并对人类健康构成潜在威胁。Valea Şesei 是罗马尼亚最大的尾矿库，是由金属山脉（Apuseni 山脉的一个分支）的山谷（称为 Valea Şesei）被铜矿尾矿淹没而形成的。本研究：（i）估计了该地区尾矿的总容积；（ii）对取自尾矿库的废水样本中 65 种元素（稀土和铂族元素、碱金属和碱土金属、过渡和后过渡金属和类金属）和氰化物浓度进行了筛选；（iii）利用五种体外生物测定法，对这些水样的毒性进行了评估，这些生物测定法使用了从健康供体分离的人类细胞和短期（1 小时）暴露模型。采样水样呈强酸性（pH 2.1-4.9），电导率高（2.80-15.61 mS cm）。在任何样本中都未检测到氰化物。流入尾矿库的溪流（AMD）中的水样具有最高浓度的碱金属、碱土金属、过渡和后过渡金属、类金属、稀土元素和贵金属元素。在其他地点，元素浓度较低，但仍足以构成相关风险。AMD 水样引起的体外毒性作用最大。观察到的改变包括人嗜中性粒细胞的氧化还原失衡，随后发生脂质过氧化和细胞存活率降低、红细胞明显聚集以及凝血酶原时间增加。该研究强调，Valea Şesei 是有毒元素的一个大汇，对环境和健康构成风险，需要采取行动防止进一步释放化学物质，并启动该地区的恢复。
