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A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings

Over the course of history, the development of human societies implied the exploitation of mineral resources which generated huge amounts of mining wastes leading to substantial environmental contamination by various metal(loid)s. This is especially the case of coal mine tailings which, subjected to...

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Autores principales: Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine, Radola, Diane, Choulet, Flavien, Buatier, Martine, Vauthier, Raphaël, Morvan, Tatiana, Chavanne, Walter, Gimbert, Frédéric
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8309815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34357907
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics9070164
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author Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine
Radola, Diane
Choulet, Flavien
Buatier, Martine
Vauthier, Raphaël
Morvan, Tatiana
Chavanne, Walter
Gimbert, Frédéric
author_facet Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine
Radola, Diane
Choulet, Flavien
Buatier, Martine
Vauthier, Raphaël
Morvan, Tatiana
Chavanne, Walter
Gimbert, Frédéric
author_sort Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine
collection PubMed
description Over the course of history, the development of human societies implied the exploitation of mineral resources which generated huge amounts of mining wastes leading to substantial environmental contamination by various metal(loid)s. This is especially the case of coal mine tailings which, subjected to weathering reactions, produce acid mine drainage (AMD), a recurring ecological issue related to current and past mining activities. In this study, we aimed to determine the origin, the fate and the ecotoxicity of metal(loid)s leached from a historical coal tailing heap to the Beuveroux river (Franche-Comté, France) using a combination of mineralogical, chemical and biological approaches. In the constitutive materials of the tailings, we identified galena, tetrahedrite and bournonite as metal-rich minerals and their weathering has led to massive contamination of the water and suspended particles of the river bordering the heap. The ecotoxicity of the AMD has been assessed using Chironomus riparius larvae encaged in the field during a one-month biomonitoring campaign. The larvae showed lethal and sub-lethal (growth and emergence inhibition and delay) impairments at the AMD tributary and near downstream stations. Metal bioaccumulation and subcellular fractionation in the larvae tissues revealed a strong bioavailability of, notably, As, Pb and Tl explaining the observed biological responses. Thus, more than 70 years after the end of mining operations, the coal tailings remain a chronic source of contamination and environmental risks in AMD effluent receiving waters.
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spelling pubmed-83098152021-07-25 A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine Radola, Diane Choulet, Flavien Buatier, Martine Vauthier, Raphaël Morvan, Tatiana Chavanne, Walter Gimbert, Frédéric Toxics Article Over the course of history, the development of human societies implied the exploitation of mineral resources which generated huge amounts of mining wastes leading to substantial environmental contamination by various metal(loid)s. This is especially the case of coal mine tailings which, subjected to weathering reactions, produce acid mine drainage (AMD), a recurring ecological issue related to current and past mining activities. In this study, we aimed to determine the origin, the fate and the ecotoxicity of metal(loid)s leached from a historical coal tailing heap to the Beuveroux river (Franche-Comté, France) using a combination of mineralogical, chemical and biological approaches. In the constitutive materials of the tailings, we identified galena, tetrahedrite and bournonite as metal-rich minerals and their weathering has led to massive contamination of the water and suspended particles of the river bordering the heap. The ecotoxicity of the AMD has been assessed using Chironomus riparius larvae encaged in the field during a one-month biomonitoring campaign. The larvae showed lethal and sub-lethal (growth and emergence inhibition and delay) impairments at the AMD tributary and near downstream stations. Metal bioaccumulation and subcellular fractionation in the larvae tissues revealed a strong bioavailability of, notably, As, Pb and Tl explaining the observed biological responses. Thus, more than 70 years after the end of mining operations, the coal tailings remain a chronic source of contamination and environmental risks in AMD effluent receiving waters. MDPI 2021-07-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8309815/ /pubmed/34357907 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics9070164 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Gauthier-Manuel, Honorine
Radola, Diane
Choulet, Flavien
Buatier, Martine
Vauthier, Raphaël
Morvan, Tatiana
Chavanne, Walter
Gimbert, Frédéric
A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title_full A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title_fullStr A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title_full_unstemmed A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title_short A Multidisciplinary Approach for the Assessment of Origin, Fate and Ecotoxicity of Metal(loid)s from Legacy Coal Mine Tailings
title_sort multidisciplinary approach for the assessment of origin, fate and ecotoxicity of metal(loid)s from legacy coal mine tailings
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8309815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34357907
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics9070164
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