Occurrence characteristics of uranium mineral-related substances in various environmental media in China: A critical review

Bei Zhao; Zhanxue Sun; Yadan Guo; Zhongkui Zhou; Xuegang Wang; Pingchao Ke

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129856

Occurrence characteristics of uranium mineral-related substances in various environmental media in China: A critical review

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Jan 5:441:129856. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129856. Epub 2022 Sep 5.

Authors

Bei Zhao¹, Zhanxue Sun², Yadan Guo³, Zhongkui Zhou³, Xuegang Wang³, Pingchao Ke³

Affiliations

¹ China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China.
² China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China; State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China. Electronic address: zhxsun@ecut.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China.

PMID: 36115096
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129856

Abstract

The high demand and extensive exploitation of uranium resources resulted in the ubiquity and high detection levels of uranium mineral-related substances in various environment media in China. The potential adverse effects of uranium mineral-related substances on environment and human health have received extensive attention. Therefore, we reviewed the occurrence and spatial distribution of uranium mineral-related substances in various basins and environmental media in China to obtain an overall understanding. We collected information from over 70 papers reporting the occurrence and distribution of uranium mineral-related substances in multiple environments and 183 articles on the genesis of uranium deposits in China from 2001 to 2021. Then the occurrence of uranium mineral-related substances and corresponding correlation in different basins, environmental media and depth ranges were compared in detail. And this review assessed the uranium mineral-related pollution in China based on various environmental quality standards of China, EPA and WHO, and proposed the priority uranium mineral-related heavy metals and radioactive substances based on cluster analysis. This review showed that there were obvious differences in the occurrence characteristics of various uranium mineral-related substances in different environmental media, especially in the surrounding environment of sandstone type and hard rock type uranium deposits. These results will guide us to tackle the challenge of uranium mineral-related pollution in China. The correlation analysis of uranium mineral-related pollutants in different environmental media and the identification of priority pollutants will also provide instructions for us to control uranium mineral-related pollution. Finally, we put forward a series of urgent and practical suggestions on risk management and control of uranium mining according to the current situation of uranium mining environment in China, which is of guiding significance for the realization of "green uranium mining".

Keywords: Groundwater; Sediment; Soil; Surface water; Uranium mineral-related substance.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Humans
Minerals / analysis
Mining
Soil Pollutants, Radioactive*
Uranium* / toxicity

Substances

Minerals
Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
Uranium