Department of Energy and Fuels, School of Mines and Energy, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ríos Rosas 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain.
Environ Geochem Health. 2018 Dec;40(6):2695-2706. doi: 10.1007/s10653-018-0133-9. Epub 2018 Jun 13.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been identified as compounds that can be incorporated to run-off waters or to aquifers becoming a real threat not only to aquatic organisms but also to humans due to its carcinogenic and mutagenic activity. This work studies the presence of PAHs in a coal dump pile located in the north of Spain (Asturias), downhill a spoil pile of a cinabrium mine. This unique site gives the opportunity to assess whether acid waters have more potential to leach PAHs than normal rainwater (acidified when it gets in contact with coal spoil). The distribution of PAHs and methyl PAHs has shown that their abundance is higher in the path of acid waters which could be caused by the ability of acid water to break bonds of coal macromolecules. This chemical reaction liberates PAHs of less molecular weight that can be detected by GC-MS. Moreover, less soluble PAHs are concentrated on the acid water circulation area and more soluble PAHs more leached by acid water that rainwater, which indicates that PAHs dissolve more in acid waters than in normal rainwater. In addition, this coal spoil pile has been reclaimed with apple trees to make cider for human consumption. Up to 152 different compounds were identified in the tree samples, but neither PAHs nor methyl PAHs were found, pointing to a possible retention of the PAHs in the roots zone. Apple trees in the acid waters path show more concentration in waxes and flavour compounds, indicating a more mature apple.
多环芳烃（PAHs）已被确定为可随径流或含水层进入水体的化合物，由于其致癌和致突变活性，不仅对水生生物，而且对人类构成了真正的威胁。本研究在西班牙北部（阿斯图里亚斯）的一个煤堆场（位于一个锌矿的废石堆下坡处）调查了 PAHs 的存在情况。这一独特的地点使我们有机会评估酸性水是否比普通雨水（与煤矸石接触时酸化）具有更大的淋滤 PAHs 的潜力。PAHs 和甲基 PAHs 的分布表明，在酸性水的路径中它们的丰度更高，这可能是由于酸性水能够打破煤大分子的键。这种化学反应释放出分子量较小的 PAHs，可以通过 GC-MS 检测到。此外，溶解度较低的 PAHs 集中在酸性水循环区，而更多可被酸性水淋滤的溶解度较高的 PAHs 则来自雨水，这表明 PAHs 在酸性水中比在普通雨水中更容易溶解。此外，这个煤矸石堆已经被开垦种植苹果树，用于生产供人类消费的苹果酒。在树样中鉴定出多达 152 种不同的化合物，但未发现 PAHs 或甲基 PAHs，这表明 PAHs 可能在根部区域被截留。位于酸性水路径中的苹果树在蜡质和风味化合物中的浓度更高，表明苹果更成熟。
