Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland.
Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Mar 20;657:1161-1172. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.455. Epub 2018 Nov 30.
Increased metal mining in the Arctic region has caused elevated loads of arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), nickel (Ni), and sulfate (SO) to recipient surface or groundwater systems. The need for cost-effective active and passive mine water treatment methods has also increased. Natural peatlands are commonly used as a final step for treatment of mining influenced water. However, their permanent retention of harmful substances is affected by influent concentrations and environmental conditions. The effects of dilution, pH, temperature, oxygen availability, and contaminant accumulation on retention and leaching of As, Sb, Ni, and sulfate from mine process water and drainage water obtained from treatment peatlands in Finnish Lapland were studied in batch sorption experiments, and discussed in context of field data and environmental impacts. The results, while demonstrating effectiveness of peat to remove the target contaminants from mine water, revealed the risk of leaching of As, Sb, and SO from treatment peatlands when diluted mine water was introduced. Sb was more readily leached compared to As while leaching of both was supported by higher pH of 9. No straightforward effect of temperature and oxygen availability in controlling removal and leaching was evident from the results. The results also showed that contaminant accumulation in treatment peatlands after long-term use can lead to decreased removal and escalated leaching of contaminants, with the effect being more pronounced for As and Ni.
北极地区金属开采的增加导致砷（As）、锑（Sb）、镍（Ni）和硫酸盐（SO）的负荷升高，进入受纳地表或地下水中。因此，对于具有成本效益的主动和被动矿山水处理方法的需求也有所增加。天然泥炭地通常被用作处理受矿山影响的水的最后一步。然而，其对有害物质的永久保留受到进水浓度和环境条件的影响。在批量吸附实验中研究了稀释、pH 值、温度、氧气可用性和污染物积累对从芬兰拉普兰的处理泥炭地中获得的矿山工艺水和排水水中的 As、Sb、Ni 和硫酸盐的保留和浸出的影响，并结合现场数据和环境影响进行了讨论。结果表明，虽然泥炭对从矿山水中去除目标污染物是有效的，但当引入稀释的矿山水时，处理泥炭地中 As、Sb 和 SO 的浸出风险增加。与 As 相比，Sb 更容易浸出，而较高的 pH 值（9）支持这两种元素的浸出。结果表明，温度和氧气可用性对去除和浸出的控制没有直接影响。研究结果还表明，长期使用后，处理泥炭地中的污染物积累会导致去除率降低和污染物浸出加剧，As 和 Ni 的影响更为明显。
