Assessing element distribution and speciation in a stream at abandoned Pb-Zn mining site by combining classical, in-situ DGT and modelling approaches

Dario Omanović; Ivanka Pižeta; Petra Vukosav; Elza Kovács; Stanislav Frančišković-Bilinski; János Tamás

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.12.076

Assessing element distribution and speciation in a stream at abandoned Pb-Zn mining site by combining classical, in-situ DGT and modelling approaches

Sci Total Environ. 2015 Apr 1:511:423-34. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.12.076. Epub 2015 Jan 5.

Authors

Dario Omanović¹, Ivanka Pižeta², Petra Vukosav², Elza Kovács³, Stanislav Frančišković-Bilinski², János Tamás³

Affiliations

¹ Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, P.O. Box 180, HR-10002 Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: omanovic@irb.hr.
² Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, P.O. Box 180, HR-10002 Zagreb, Croatia.
³ Institute of Water and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary.

PMID: 25569578
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.12.076

Abstract

The distribution and speciation of elements along a stream subjected to neutralised acid mine drainage (NAMD) effluent waters (Mátra Mountain, Hungary; Toka stream) were studied by a multi-methodological approach: dissolved and particulate fractions of elements were determined by HR-ICPMS, whereas speciation was carried out by DGT, supported by speciation modelling performed by Visual MINTEQ. Before the NAMD discharge, the Toka is considered as a pristine stream, with averages of dissolved concentrations of elements lower than world averages. A considerable increase of element concentrations caused by effluent water inflow is followed by a sharp or gradual concentration decrease. A large difference between total and dissolved concentrations was found for Fe, Al, Pb, Cu, Zn and As in effluent water and at the first downstream site, with high correlation factors between elements in particulate fraction, indicating their common behaviour, governed by the formation of ferri(hydr)oxides (co)precipitates. In-situ speciation by the DGT technique revealed that Zn, Cd, Ni, Co, Mn and U were predominantly present as a labile, potentially bioavailable fraction (>90%). The formation of strong complexes with dissolved organic matter (DOM) resulted in a relatively low DGT-labile concentration of Cu (42%), while low DGT-labile concentrations of Fe (5%) and Pb (12%) were presumably caused by their existence in colloidal (particulate) fraction which is not accessible to DGT. Except for Fe and Pb, a very good agreement between DGT-labile concentrations and those predicted by the applied speciation model was obtained, with an average correlation factor of 0.96. This study showed that the in-situ DGT technique in combination with model-predicted speciation and classical analysis of samples could provide a reasonable set of data for the assessment of the water quality status (WQS), as well as for the more general study of overall behaviour of the elements in natural waters subjected to high element loads.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage; Diffusive gradients in thin films — DGT; Heavy metals; Speciation modelling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Hungary
Mining*
Models, Chemical*
Rivers / chemistry*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical