International Journal of Coal Geology ( IF 5.6 ) Pub Date : 2021-10-06 , DOI: 10.1016/j.coal.2021.103863 Yunfei Shangguan 1 , Xinguo Zhuang 1 , Xavier Querol 1, 2 , Baoqing Li 1 , Jing Li 1 , Natalia Moreno 2 , Pedro Trechera 2 , Patricia Córdoba Sola 2 , Gaëlle Uzu 3
This study systematically investigates the mineralogical and geochemical variations in parent coal, coal gangue (roof, parting, and floor), deposited coal mine dust (DD), and respirable fractions of DD (RD) in an underground coal mine using the blasting mining method in China to evaluate the major sources of DD. The emission of dust in this study is affected by coal gangue sources during the mining process, which causes different geochemical patterns in the DD samples. Moreover, weathering of the cement gunite walls plays an important role in the enrichment of specific elements in the DD from air uptake and air out galleries. Furthermore, the spatial variation in RD characteristics, including mineralogy, geochemistry, and oxidative potential (OP), is discussed, with emphasis on the major health-relevant species and elements. Organic species from coal dust seem to be the essential components contributing to OP rather than metals, although some metals (e.g., Cr, Co, Ge, Se, Zn, Ba, Rb, Cs, Sn, and Pb) influence OP to some degree.