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Determination of the distribution and speciation of selenium in an argillaceous sample using chemical extractions and post-extractions analyses: application to the hydrogeological experimental site of Poitiers

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Abstract

To better understand selenium’s dynamics in environmental systems, the present study aims to investigate selenium speciation and distribution in black argillaceous sediments, partially fulfilling karstic cavities into the Hydrogeological Experimental Site of Poitiers. These sediments are suspected to be responsible for selenium concentrations exceeding the European Framework Directive’s drinking water limit value (10 μg L−1) in some specific wells. A combination of a sequential extractions scheme and single parallel extractions was thus applied on a representative argillaceous sample. Impacts of the extractions on mineral dissolution and organic matter mobilization were followed by quantifying major cations and total organic carbon (TOC) in the aqueous extracts. The nature of the released organic matter was characterized using thermochemolysis coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). About 10 % of selenium from the black argillaceous studied matrix could be defined as ‘easily mobilizable’ when the majority (around 70 %) revealed associated with the aliphatic and alkaline-soluble organic matter’s fraction (about 20 %). In these fractions, selenium speciation was moreover dominated by oxidized species including a mixture of SeVI (20–30 %) and SeIV (70–80 %) in the ‘easily mobilizable’ fraction, while only SeIV was detected in alkaline-soluble organic matter fraction.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of this study by the Poitou-Charentes Water Research Program (CPER #1) and by the French National Observatory System (NOS) H+ is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers (IC2MP), Université de Poitiers/CNRS, UMR 7285, Bâtiment B8, rue Michel Brunet, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, France

    Joseph Bassil, Aude Naveau, Laurent Grasset & Moumtaz Razack

  2. Platform for Research and Analysis in Environmental Sciences, Doctoral School of Science and Technology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, P.O. Box 5, Campus Rafic Hariri, Hadath, Beirut, Lebanon

    Joseph Bassil & Véronique Kazpard

  3. Laboratoire de Chimie analytique Bio-Inorganique et Environnement (LCABIE), Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour/CNRS, UMR 5254, IPREM, Hélioparc, 2 Avenue du Président Angot, 64053, Pau Cedex 9, France

    Maïté Bueno & Pamela Di Tullo

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  1. Joseph Bassil
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  2. Aude Naveau
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Correspondence to Joseph Bassil.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Bassil, J., Naveau, A., Bueno, M. et al. Determination of the distribution and speciation of selenium in an argillaceous sample using chemical extractions and post-extractions analyses: application to the hydrogeological experimental site of Poitiers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 9598–9613 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6113-7

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