Gauthier-Manuel Honorine, Radola Diane, Choulet Flavien, Buatier Martine, Vauthier Raphaël, Morvan Tatiana, Chavanne Walter, Gimbert Frédéric
UMR CNRS 6249 Chrono-Environnement, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 16 Route de Gray, CEDEX, 25030 Besançon, France.
Conservatoire d'Espaces Naturels de Franche-Comté, Maison de l'environnement de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 7 rue Voirin, 25000 Besançon, France.
Toxics. 2021 Jul 10;9(7):164. doi: 10.3390/toxics9070164.
Over the course of history, the development of human societies implied the exploitation of mineral resources which generated huge amounts of mining wastes leading to substantial environmental contamination by various metal(loid)s. This is especially the case of coal mine tailings which, subjected to weathering reactions, produce acid mine drainage (AMD), a recurring ecological issue related to current and past mining activities. In this study, we aimed to determine the origin, the fate and the ecotoxicity of metal(loid)s leached from a historical coal tailing heap to the Beuveroux river (Franche-Comté, France) using a combination of mineralogical, chemical and biological approaches. In the constitutive materials of the tailings, we identified galena, tetrahedrite and bournonite as metal-rich minerals and their weathering has led to massive contamination of the water and suspended particles of the river bordering the heap. The ecotoxicity of the AMD has been assessed using larvae encaged in the field during a one-month biomonitoring campaign. The larvae showed lethal and sub-lethal (growth and emergence inhibition and delay) impairments at the AMD tributary and near downstream stations. Metal bioaccumulation and subcellular fractionation in the larvae tissues revealed a strong bioavailability of, notably, As, Pb and Tl explaining the observed biological responses. Thus, more than 70 years after the end of mining operations, the coal tailings remain a chronic source of contamination and environmental risks in AMD effluent receiving waters.
在历史进程中，人类社会的发展意味着对矿产资源的开发利用，这产生了大量的采矿废弃物，导致各种金属（类金属）对环境造成严重污染。煤矿尾矿尤其如此，经过风化反应，会产生酸性矿山排水（AMD），这是一个与当前和过去采矿活动相关的反复出现的生态问题。在本研究中，我们旨在结合矿物学、化学和生物学方法，确定从历史悠久的煤矸石堆沥出并进入贝弗鲁河（法国弗朗什 - 孔泰）的金属（类金属）的来源、归宿和生态毒性。在尾矿的组成材料中，我们鉴定出方铅矿、黝铜矿和车轮矿为富含金属的矿物，它们的风化导致了堆体附近河流的水和悬浮颗粒受到大量污染。通过在为期一个月的生物监测活动中对野外笼养幼虫进行实验，评估了AMD的生态毒性。在AMD支流和下游附近站点，幼虫出现了致死和亚致死（生长抑制、羽化抑制和延迟）损伤。幼虫组织中的金属生物积累和亚细胞分级显示，特别是砷、铅和铊具有很强的生物有效性，这解释了所观察到的生物学反应。因此，在采矿作业结束70多年后，煤矸石仍然是受AMD废水影响水体中的长期污染源和环境风险源。
