Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran.
Department of Soil and Water Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Oct;241:432-440. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.084. Epub 2018 May 31.
Atmospheric particulates play a vital role in the transport of potentially toxic metals, being an important exposure pathways of people to toxic elements, which is faster and can occur in a much larger scale than water, soil and biota transport. Windblown materials in abandoned tailing ponds have not been well examined. The objectives of this investigation were: to study the major physical and geochemical properties of the materials eroded by wind inside the tailing ponds, and to understand the relative contribution of different sources to its heavy metals concentration. Study area is located in Cartagena-La Union mining district (SE Spain), where metallic mining of Fe, Pb and Zn has been developed for more than 2500 years. Wind-eroded particulates were monthly collected at 3 different heights (20, 50, and 80 cm) from the ground for a period of a full year using 4 dust collectors. Four tailing samples and 4 surface soil samples from the surrounding hills were also taken. Dust, soil, and tailing samples were examined for pH, particle size distribution, electrical conductivity, calcium carbonate content, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Mn, Co, Ni, Ti and Zr concentrations. The results indicated that very coarse textured, slightly saline, and almost neutral wind-eroded deposits were generated with a very high temporal variability throughout the year. They also showed that the concentration of Cd, Mn, Pb and Zn, in the dust samples is extraordinarily high (18, 1254, 1831, and 5747 mg kg respectively), whereas Co, Ni, and Cu had concentrations into the range of background concentrations found in the Earth's crust (3.8, 12, and 60 mg kg respectively). Besides, the concentration of both categories of heavy metals in the dust samples was higher than that in tailing and less than that of the soils. The barren surfaces of tailing ponds and also the surface soils of the surrounding area seem to be the major contributors to the dust collected. Therefore, abandoned mines as well as their tailing ponds should be rehabilitated by proper technologies and then well stabilized and/or covered by appropriate plant vegetation to control the transfer, particularly by air, of environmentally hazardous materials to other areas.
大气颗粒物在潜在有毒金属的传输中起着至关重要的作用，是人们接触有毒元素的重要途径之一，其作用比水、土壤和生物群系传输更快，规模更大。废弃尾矿池中的风扬物质尚未得到充分研究。本研究的目的是：研究尾矿池内风蚀物质的主要物理和地球化学性质，并了解不同来源对其重金属浓度的相对贡献。研究区域位于卡塔赫纳-拉乌尼翁矿区（西班牙东南部），那里的铁、铅和锌金属开采已经超过 2500 年。在一年的时间里，使用 4 个集尘器每月在地面的 3 个不同高度（20、50 和 80cm）收集风蚀微粒。还采集了 4 个尾矿样品和周围山丘的 4 个表层土壤样品。对粉尘、土壤和尾矿样品进行 pH 值、粒度分布、电导率、碳酸钙含量、Pb、Cu、Zn、Cd、Mn、Co、Ni、Ti 和 Zr 浓度的检测。结果表明，全年形成了非常粗糙质地、微咸和近中性的风蚀沉积物，具有很高的时间变异性。它们还表明，灰尘样品中 Cd、Mn、Pb 和 Zn 的浓度非常高（分别为 18、1254、1831 和 5747mg/kg），而 Co、Ni 和 Cu 的浓度处于地壳中发现的背景浓度范围内（分别为 3.8、12 和 60mg/kg）。此外，灰尘样品中这两类重金属的浓度高于尾矿和土壤。废弃尾矿池的贫瘠表面以及周围地区的土壤似乎是收集到的灰尘的主要来源。因此，应通过适当的技术对废弃矿山及其尾矿池进行修复，然后通过适当的植物植被进行稳定和/或覆盖，以控制有害物质通过空气向其他地区的转移，特别是通过空气。
