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Effect of weathering product assemblages on Pb bioaccessibility in mine waste: implications for risk management

  • Mining and the Environment - Understanding Processes, Assessing Impacts and Developing Remediation
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Abstract

General assessments of orebody types and associated mine wastes with regard to their environmental signature and human health hazards are needed to help in managing present and historical mine waste facilities. Bioaccessibility tests and mineralogical analysis were carried out on mine waste from a systematic sampling of mine sites from the Central Wales orefield, UK. The bioaccessible Pb widely ranged from 270 to 20,300 mg/kg (mean 7,250 mg/kg, median 4,890 mg/kg), and the bioaccessible fraction from 4.53 to >100 % (mean 33.2 %, median 32.2 %), with significant (p = 0.001) differences among the mine sites. This implies sensitivity of bioaccessibility to site-specific conditions and suggests caution in the use of models to assess human health impacts generalised on the basis of the mineral deposit type. Mineralogical similarities of the oxidation products of primary galena provided a better control over the observed Pb bioaccessibility range. The higher Pb bioaccessibility (%) was related to samples containing cerussite, irrespective of the presence of other Pb minerals in the mineral assemblage; lower Pb bioaccessibility resulted where anglesite was the main Pb mineral phase and cerussite was absent. A solubility diagram for the various Pb minerals in the waste was derived using PHREEQC model, and the experimental Pb concentrations, measured in the simulated gastric solution, were compared with the equilibrium modelling results. For samples containing cerussite, the model well predicted the soluble Pb concentrations measured in the gastric solution, indicative of the carbonate mineral phase control on the Pb in solution for these samples and little kinetic control on the dissolution of cerussite. On the contrary, most mine waste samples containing dominant anglesite and or plumbojarosite (no cerussite) had lower solution Pb values, falling at or below the anglesite and plumbojarosite solubility equilibrium concentrations, implying kinetic or textural factors hindering the dissolution.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Sean P. Quigley and Karol Kura, visiting researcher from the Central Mining Institute, Katowice, Poland, for carrying out the sampling and Martin Roe for the scanning electron microscopy analysis. The British Geological Survey Analytical Chemistry Laboratories are gratefully acknowledged for carrying out the chemical analysis. This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the paper was published with the permission of the Executive Director of the British Geological Survey (NERC).

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  1. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK

    Barbara Palumbo-Roe, Joanna Wragg, Mark R. Cave & Doris Wagner

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  1. Barbara Palumbo-Roe
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  2. Joanna Wragg
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  3. Mark R. Cave
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  4. Doris Wagner
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Correspondence to Barbara Palumbo-Roe.

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Responsible editor: Vera Slaveykova

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Palumbo-Roe, B., Wragg, J., Cave, M.R. et al. Effect of weathering product assemblages on Pb bioaccessibility in mine waste: implications for risk management. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 7699–7710 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1515-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1515-2

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