Exposure studies have linked arsenic (As) ingestion with disease in mining-affected populations; however, inhalation of mine waste dust as a pathway for pulmonary toxicity and systemic absorption has received limited attention. A biologically relevant extractant was used to assess the 24-h lung bioaccessibility of As in dust isolated from four distinct types of historical gold mine wastes common to regional Victoria, Australia. Mine waste particles less than 20 µm in size (PM20) were incubated in a simulated lung fluid containing a major surface-active component found in mammalian lungs, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. The supernatants were extracted, and their As contents measured after 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 h. The resultant As solubility profiles show rapid dissolution followed by a more modest increasing trend, with between 75 and 82% of the total 24-h bioaccessible As released within the first 8 h. These profiles are consistent with the solubility profile of scorodite, a secondary As-bearing phase detected by X-ray diffraction in one of the investigated waste materials. Compared with similar studies, the cumulative As concentrations released at the 24-h time point were extremely low (range 297 ± 6-3983 ± 396 µg L-1), representing between 0.020 ± 0.002 and 0.036 ± 0.003% of the total As in the PM20.
Keywords: Arsenic; Dust; Lung bioaccessibility; Mine waste; Scorodite; Simulated lung fluid.