Abstract
A multi-medium system, involving tailing area (tailings, surrounding soils and water) and downstream agricultural area (river water, sediments and farmland soils), was conceived to evaluate the pollution status of potential toxic elements (PTEs, including Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Pb, Cr and Cd) and environmental risks in a tin-polymetallic mine area southwest China. The results indicated that tailings exhibited representative enrichment and combination characteristics of Sn, Cu, Ni, Fe, As, Pb and Cr compared to surrounding soils. Acid mine drainage (AMD) from tailings and other mining-related sources greatly affected river water and farmland soils, resulting in soil acidification and accumulation of Sn, As, Cu and Pb in paddy soils. Overall, potential ecological risks posed by tailings and river sediments, and pollution risks from Cu, As and Pb in farmland should be concerned. Therefore, effective measures should be urgently taken to prevent PTEs and AMD into surrounding environmental media.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angadi SI, Sreenivas T, Jeon HS et al (2015) A review of cassiterite beneficiation fundamentals and plant practices. Miner Eng 70:178–200
Antunes IMHR, Gomes MEP, Neiva AMR et al (2016) Potential risk assessment in stream sediments, soils and waters after remediation in an abandoned W > Sn mine (NE Portugal). Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 133:135–145
Ashraf MA, Maah MJ, Yusoff I (2012) Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Fish Species Collected From Former Tin Mining Catchment. Int J Environ Res Public Health 6:209–218
Cai LM, Xu ZC, Bao P et al (2015) Multivariate and geostatistical analyses of the spatial distribution and source of arsenic and heavy metals in the agricultural soils in Shunde, Southeast China. J Geochem Explor 148:189–195
Cao HW, Pei QM, Zhang ST et al (2017) Geology, geochemistry and genesis of the eocene lailishan sn deposit in the sanjiang region, SW China. J Asian Earth Sci 137:220–240
Chen T, Liu XM, Zhu MZ et al (2008) Identification of trace element sources and associated risk assessment in vegetable soils of the urban-rural transitional area of Hangzhou, China. Environ Pollut 151:67–78
Chen XC, Hu RZ, Bi XW et al (2015) Petrogenesis of metaluminous A-type granitoids in the Tengchong–Lianghe tin belt of southwestern China: Evidences from zircon U–Pb ages and Hf–O isotopes, and whole-rock Sr–Nd isotopes. Lithos 212–215:93–110
Clemente R, Walker DJ, Roig A et al (2003) Heavy metal bioavailability in a soil affected by mineral sulphides contamination following the mine spillage at Aznalcollar (Spain). Biodegradation 14:199–205
CNEMC (China National Environmental Monitoring Centre) (1990) The background concentrations of soil elements of China. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing (In Chinese)
Cooperative Research Group on Chinese Soil Taxonomy (CRG-CST) (2001) Chinese soil taxonomy. Science Press, Beijing (In Chinese)
Edraki M, Baumgartl T, Manlapig E et al (2014) Designing mine tailings for better environmental, social and economic outcomes: a review of alternative approaches. J Clean Prod 84:411–420
Gammons CH, Brown A, Poulson SR et al (2013) Using stable isotopes (S, O) of sulfate to track local contamination of the Madison karst aquifer, Montana, from abandoned coal mine drainage. Appl Geochem 31:228–238
GAQSIQ and SA (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China and Standardization Administration) (2005) Standards for irrigation water quality. (In Chinese)
Hakanson L (1980) An Ecological Risk Index for Aquatic Pollution-Control - a Sedimentological Approach. Water Res 14:975–1001
Hällström LPB, Alakangas L, Martinsson O (2018) Geochemical characterization of W, Cu and F skarn tailings at Yxsjöberg, Sweden. J Geochem Explor 194:266–279
Iglesias C, Antunes IMHR, Albuquerque MTD et al (2020) Predicting ore content throughout a machine learning procedure – An Sn-W enrichment case study. J Geochem Explor 208:106405
Kossoff D, Dubbin WE, Alfredsson M et al (2014) Mine tailings dams: Characteristics, failure, environmental impacts, and remediation. Appl Geochem 51:229–245
Li YY, Wang HB, Wang HJ et al (2014a) Heavy metal pollution in vegetables grown in the vicinity of a multi-metal mining area in Gejiu, China: total concentrations, speciation analysis, and health risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 21:12569–12582
Li ZY, Ma ZW, van der Kuijp TJ et al (2014) A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: pollution and health risk assessment. Sci Total Environ 468:843–853
Liu YB, Cui J, Peng Y et al (2020) Atmospheric deposition of hazardous elements and its accumulation in both soil and grain of winter wheat in a lead-zinc smelter contaminated area, Central China. Sci Total Environ 707:135789
López FA, García-Díaz I, Largo OR et al (2018) Recovery and purification of tin from tailings from the penouta Sn–Ta–Nb deposit. Miner 8(1):20
Lu RK (2000) Soil Argrochemistry Analysis Protocoes. China Agriculture Science Press, Beijing. (In Chinese)
MEP and MLR (Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Land and Resources) (2014) National Soil Pollution Status Survey Bulletin. (In Chinese)
Mo JW (2012) China tin industry. Metallurgy Industry Press, Beijing (In Chinese)
Mousavi Khaneghah A, Fakhri Y, Nematollahi A et al (2020) Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in cereal-based foods: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trends Food Sci Tech 96:30–44
Müller G (1979) Schwermetalle in den sedimenten des Rheins-Veränderungen seit 1971. Umsch Wiss Tech 79:778–783
Park I, Tabelin CB, Jeon S et al (2019) A review of recent strategies for acid mine drainage prevention and mine tailings recycling. Chemosphere 219:588–606
Sakai N, Alsaad Z, Thuong NT et al (2017) Source profiling of arsenic and heavy metals in the Selangor River basin and their maternal and cord blood levels in Selangor State. Malaysia Chemosphere 184:857–865
SAMSA and MEE (State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration, Ministry of Ecological Environment) (2018) Soil environmental quality Risk control standard for soil contamination ofagricultural land. Environmental Science Press, Beijing (In Chinese)
Shu XH, Zhang Q, Lu GN et al (2018) Pollution characteristics and assessment of sulfide tailings from the Dabaoshan Mine, China. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 128:122–128
Stovern M, Rine KP, Russell MR et al (2015) Development of a dust deposition forecasting model for mine tailings impoundments using in situ observations and particle transport simulations. Aeolian Res 18:155–167
Su ZJ, Tu YK, Chen XJ et al (2019) A value-added multistage utilization process for the gradient-recovery tin, iron and preparing composite phase change materials (C-PCMs) from tailings. Sci Rep 9:14097
Su ZJ, Zhang YB, Liu BB et al (2017) Extraction and Separation of Tin from Tin-Bearing Secondary Resources: A Review. Jom 69:2364–2372
Tian ML, Zhong XM, Zhang YX, Yu YY (2018) Concentrations and Health Risk Assessments of Heavy Metal Contents in Soil and Rice of Mine Contaminated Areas. Environ Sci 39:2919–2926 (In Chinese)
Ustaoğlu F, Islam MS (2020) Potential toxic elements in sediment of some rivers at Giresun, Northeast Turkey: A preliminary assessment for ecotoxicological status and health risk. Ecol Indic 113:106237
von Tumpling W, Zeilhofer P, Ammer U et al (1995) Estimation of Mercury Content in Tailings of the Gold Mine Area of Pocone, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 2:225–228
Wang CM, Deng J, Carranza EJM et al (2014) Tin metallogenesis associated with granitoids in the southwestern Sanjiang Tethyan Domain: Nature, deposit types, and tectonic setting. Gondwana Res 26:576–593
Xiao QQ, Wang HB, Zhao B, Ye ZH (2011) Heavy Metal Pollution in Crops Growing in Suburb of Gejiu City, Yunnan Province, China: Present Situation and Health Risk. J Agro-Environ Sci 30:271–281 (In Chinese)
Yang CR, Tan QY, Zeng XL et al (2018) Measuring the sustainability of tin in China. Sci Total Environ 635:1351–1359
Yang YH, Wei ZA, Fourie A et al (2019) Particle shape analysis of tailings using digital image processing. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 26:26397–26403
Zhang XY, Tang LS, Zhang G et al (2009) Heavy metal contamination in a typical mining town of a minority and mountain area, South China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 82:31–38
Zhang YB, Wang J, Cao C et al (2019) New understanding on the separation of tin from magnetite-type, tin-bearing tailings via mineral phase reconstruction processes. J Mater Res Technol 8:5790–5801
Zhang YX, Song B, Pang R et al (2020) Risk assessment of lead intake via food among residents in the mining areas of Nandan County, China. Environ Geochem Health 1:1–10
Zou LL, Chen XF, Qi WF (2017) Investigation of Heavy Metals of Farmland Soil and Crops in Stannary of Gejiu in Yunnan, Southwest China. J Agr Sci 30:409–416 (In Chinese)
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2018YFC1802600).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, B., Tian, K., Huang, B. et al. Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Potential Toxic Elements in a Tin-polymetallic Mine Area Southwest China: Environmental Implications by Multi-Medium Analysis. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 107, 1032–1042 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03314-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03314-4