State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Nov;30(52):112725-112733. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30349-3. Epub 2023 Oct 14.
The potential contamination of shale gas wastewater generated from hydraulic fracturing to water resources is of growing concern, yet minimum attention has been paid to the impact of shale gas wastewater on the trace elements of the receiving waters. In this study, we analyzed the levels of 50 trace elements of a river that receives effluent from a shale gas wastewater treatment facility in the Sichuan Basin, China. Sixteen trace elements were detected in the surface water sample from the effluent discharge site, all of which were of higher concentrations than the upstream background level. Among the 16 shale gas wastewater-related elements, Sr, Ba, and Li were of elevated levels in the downstream water samples (24.9-44.2%, 5.0-8.0 times, and 17.8-22.8 times higher than the upstream background level, respectively). Shale gas wastewater effluent may be related to the accumulation of Sr, Ba, Li, and Cs in riverbed sediments near and/or downstream of the effluent discharge site and may lead to elevated pollution level of Sr and Li in downstream sediments. The ecological risk of the riverbed sediments was of medium to high level, with Cd contributing to the most risk, while shale gas wastewater-related elements are of low potential risk throughout the river. Our results suggested that shale gas wastewater effluent discharge had limited impacts on the trace elements of the receiving river within two years.
水力压裂产生的页岩气废水对水资源的潜在污染日益受到关注，但人们对页岩气废水对受纳水体微量元素的影响关注甚少。本研究分析了中国四川盆地一个接收页岩气废水处理厂废水的河流的 50 种微量元素的水平。在废水排放点的地表水中检测到 16 种微量元素，所有这些元素的浓度均高于上游背景水平。在 16 种与页岩气废水相关的元素中，Sr、Ba 和 Li 在下游水样中的水平较高（分别比上游背景水平高 24.9-44.2%、5.0-8.0 倍和 17.8-22.8 倍）。页岩气废水可能与废水排放点附近和/或下游河床沉积物中 Sr、Ba、Li 和 Cs 的积累有关，并可能导致下游沉积物中 Sr 和 Li 污染水平升高。河床沉积物的生态风险处于中至高水平，Cd 贡献的风险最大，而整个河流中与页岩气废水相关的元素的潜在风险较低。我们的研究结果表明，在两年内，页岩气废水排放对受纳河的微量元素影响有限。
