title: Risk assessment of an abandoned pyrite mine in Spain based on direct toxicity assays.
abstract: This research reports the risk assessment of an abandoned pyrite mine using direct toxicity assays of soil and groundwater samples taken at the site. The toxicity of As and heavy metals from mining soils to soil and aquatic organisms was studied using the Multispecies Soil System (MS-3) in soil columns. Ecotoxicological assessment was performed with soil samples diluted with a control soil at concentrations of 12.5, 25, 50 and 100% test soil/soil (w/w). In this way, changes in the mobility and bioavailability of soil contaminants due to changes in geochemical soil properties via soil dilution were studied. The toxicity of water samples was tested on algae and Daphnia magna. The assessment of the mining area indicated that the current presence of As and heavy metals at the site may cause injuries to soil and aquatic organisms in the entire research area. Moreover, this investigation demonstrated that changes in geochemical conditions can increase the availability of arsenic and, consequently, the environmental risk of these soils. A good correlation was not found between toxicity parameters and the concentrations of soil contaminants based on total and extracted element concentrations. This finding reinforces the usefulness of direct toxicity assays for evaluating environmental risk.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Environment Department, Ctra. A Coruña, km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: García-Gómez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias, Módulo 10, C/Francisco Tomas y Valiente, nº 7, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pardo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias, Módulo 10, C/Francisco Tomas y Valiente, nº 7, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias, Módulo 10, C/Francisco Tomas y Valiente, nº 7, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peñalosa
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Environment Department, Ctra. A Coruña, km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mdfdez@inia.es.
authors.forename: María Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000633:toxicity; D001681:Biological Assay; D003621:Daphnia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007501:Iron; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000633:toxicity*; D008906:Mining; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D013440:Sulfides; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013440:Sulfides; C011342:pyrite; D007501:Iron; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Direct toxicity assays; Microcosms; Mining; Soil contamination; Trace elements