title: Arsenic partitioning among particle-size fractions of mine wastes and stream sediments from cinnabar mining districts.
abstract: Tailings from abandoned mercury mines represent an important pollution source by metals and metalloids. Mercury mining in Asturias (north-western Spain) has been carried out since Roman times until the 1970s. Specific and non-specific arsenic minerals are present in the paragenesis of the Hg ore deposit. As a result of intensive mining operations, waste materials contain high concentrations of As, which can be geochemically dispersed throughout surrounding areas. Arsenic accumulation, mobility and availability in soils and sediments are strongly affected by the association of As with solid phases and granular size composition. The objective of this study was to examine phase associations of As in the fine grain size subsamples of mine wastes (La Soterraña mine site) and stream sediments heavily affected by acid mine drainage (Los Rueldos mine site). An arsenic-selective sequential procedure, which categorizes As content into seven phase associations, was applied. In spite of a higher As accumulation in the finest particle-size subsamples, As fractionation did not seem to depend on grain size since similar distribution profiles were obtained for the studied granulometric fractions. The presence of As was relatively low in the most mobile forms in both sites. As was predominantly linked to short-range ordered Fe oxyhydroxides, coprecipitated with Fe and partially with Al oxyhydroxides and associated with structural material in mine waste samples. As incorporated into short-range ordered Fe oxyhydroxides was the predominant fraction at sediment samples, representing more than 80% of total As.
authors.affiliation: ETS Ingenieros de Minas, Dpto. de Explotación y Prospección de Minas, Universidad de Oviedo, Independencia, 13, 33004, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loredo
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández-Martínez
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larios
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ordóñez
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rucandio
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D007220:Industrial Waste; D017669:Mercury Compounds; D008906:Mining; D010316:Particle Size; D013030:Spain; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D007220:Industrial Waste; D017669:Mercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic; C034211:cinnabar
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2001 Jul 1;35(13):2778-84
references.pmid: 11452609
references.citation: Sci Total Environ. 2005 Mar 20;340(1-3):247-60
references.pmid: 15752505
references.citation: J Hazard Mater. 2010 Apr 15;176(1-3):323-32
references.pmid: 20005627
references.citation: Environ Pollut. 2006 Jul;142(2):217-26
references.pmid: 16360254
references.citation: Environ Geochem Health. 2011 Apr;33(2):103-23
references.pmid: 20549543
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2003 Nov 15;37(22):5102-8
references.pmid: 14655695
references.citation: J Hazard Mater. 2006 Aug 25;136(3):455-67
references.pmid: 16504385
references.citation: Sci Total Environ. 2012 Aug 1;431:426-35
references.pmid: 22704004
references.citation: Environ Technol. 2001 Jan;22(1):27-38
references.pmid: 11286053
references.citation: Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2013 Nov;20(11):7490-508
references.pmid: 23589252
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2003 Jan 1;37(1):189-95
references.pmid: 12542310
references.citation: Environ Pollut. 2003;126(1):51-64
references.pmid: 12860102
references.citation: J Environ Monit. 2012 Feb;14(2):531-42
references.pmid: 22139034
references.citation: Environ Geochem Health. 2008 Apr;30(2):95-9
references.pmid: 18246433
references.citation: J Hazard Mater. 2012 Jul 30;225-226:54-62
references.pmid: 22609391
references.citation: J Contam Hydrol. 2011 Nov 1;126(3-4):216-25
references.pmid: 22115087
references.citation: Sci Total Environ. 2012 Jan 1;414:600-7
references.pmid: 22154482
references.citation: Environ Geochem Health. 2003 Sep;25(3):307-23
references.pmid: 12971252
references.citation: J Environ Monit. 2002 Oct;4(5):803-8
references.pmid: 12400936
references.citation: Environ Sci Technol. 2005 Dec 15;39(24):9398-405
references.pmid: 16475314