Exposure of smelting workers to mercury vapor with indigenous method for mercury smelting in Wuchuan areas, Guizhou Province, China

Small-scale mercury smelting activities with indigenous method are always extensive in the Wuchuan area, northeastern Guizhou Province, China. Because of the simple processes without any environmental protection, a large amount of mercury vapor released to the ambient air during the processing of cinnabar roasting. So the health of the workers may be negatively affected through inhalation of the mercury-polluted air. Mercury, creatinine and β2-MG contents in urine among the workers in the study areas and the residents in the control site （Changshun County） were determined to discuss the health impact of mercury vapor exposure to the workers in the study areas. Health examinations also were carded out to identify clinical symptoms of mercury poisoning for the smelting workers. Results indicated that the geometric mean value of urinary mercury for the smelting workers was g/g Cr μg/g Cr （N=22）, significantly higher than 1.24 μg/g （N=54） for residents in the control site. β2-MG as a renal biomarker can be used to study human nephrotoxicity at an early stage and it is most useful to define effects for assessing re-absorption function to indicate tubular injury. The results showed a serious adverse effect on renal system for the smelting workers due to mercury exposure. Several workers have already manifested some clinical symptoms of lightly chronic mercury poisoning and the symptoms include finger and eyelid lightly tremor, gingivitis and blue mercury line in mouth. The study illuminated that the workers in gaged in indigenous mercury smelting in the Wuchuan area were seriously exposed to mercury vapor,     

贵州务川汞矿带木油厂矿田地质特征及成矿模式

[摘 要]截至2007 年1 月,经核实贵州务川木油厂汞矿实际保有汞金属资源储量为1郾2912 万吨,居全国之冠。文章在介绍矿田地质特征的基础上,应用多种测试成果及现代矿床学的成矿理论综合研究,认为汞源来自上地幔,辰砂中的硫来源于地层中的石膏。矿床的形成与地下低温热卤水的活动关系密切,当含矿热液流经含石膏岩层之后,遇硫源在Eh 值下降、pH 值中偏碱性、温度下降、压力减小的条件下,发生一系列的蚀变反应,从而形成了以“大而贫冶为其特征的木油厂矿田。其成矿方式以交代为主,充填次之;成矿时代归属燕山期。拟建的成矿模式(图)对今后在务川汞矿带外围寻找隐伏矿床具有指导意义。     

Total gaseous mercury emissions from mercury-enriched soil in Guizhou, China

Guizhou is located in the Circum-Pacific Global Mercuriferous Belt, and mercury concentrations in soil in this area are enriched. In-situ total gaseous mercury （TGM） exchange fluxes between air and soil surface were intensively measured at four sampling sites in Guiyang from 21 May to 16 June, 2003, and five sites in the Lanmuchang mercury mining area in December 2002 and May 2003, respectively. The in-situ Hg flux measurement was conducted with a dynamic flux chamber （DFC） of quartz. Overall, net emissions were obtained from all sampling sites. Soil mercury concentration and solar radiation have been proved to be the two most important parameters to control mercury emissions from soil. Meanwhile, rain events can enhance mercury emission rate significantly.     

贵州务川瓦厂坪铝土矿床地球化学特征

务川瓦厂坪铝土矿床是近年探明的大型矿床,332+333资源量4397万吨.地球化学研究显示,矿床中Al_2O_3与TiO_2含量成正相关关系,与SiO_2含量成负相关关系;硫同位素组成属于沉积岩范畴,总体显示出变化范围大(-29.20‰～+12.40‰),反映出复杂的成矿环境和轻重硫同位素的多次分离;不同岩、矿石的稀土总量(∑REE)含量变化大,LREE/HREE均大于1,显示轻稀土较富集;铝土矿层中,土状铝土矿稀土元素含量相对高,致密块状铝土矿含量相对低,稀土元素含量与矿石质量总体呈正相关关系.铝土矿层及志留系韩家店组的稀土总量含量较接近.矿床成因属古风化壳沉积型.     

Mercury pollution from artisanal mercury mining in Tongren, Guizhou, China

Concentrations of total Hg (T-Hg) were measured in mine waste, stream water, soil and moss samples collected from the Tongren area, Guizhou, China to identify potential Hg contamination to local environments, which has resulted from artisanal Hg mining. Mine waste contained high T-Hg concentrations, ranging from 1.8 to 900 mg/kg. High concentrations of Hg were also found in the leachates of mine waste, confirming that mine waste contains significant water-soluble Hg compounds. Total Hg distribution patterns in soil profiles showed that top soil is contaminated with Hg, which has been derived from atmospheric deposition. Data suggest that organic matter plays an important role in the binding and transport of Hg in soil. Elevated T-Hg concentrations (5.9–44 mg/kg) in moss samples suggest that atmospheric deposition is the dominant source of Hg to local terrestrial ecosystems. Concentrations of T-Hg were highly elevated in stream water samples, varying from 92 to 2300 ng/L. Particulate Hg in water constituted a large proportion of the T-Hg and played a major role in Hg transport. Methyl–Hg (Me–Hg) concentrations in the water samples was as high as 7.9 ng/L. Data indicate that Hg contamination is dominantly from artisanal Hg mining in the study area, but the extent of Hg contamination is dependent on the mining history and the scale of artisanal Hg mining.     

Source apportionment and distribution of atmospheric mercury in urban Beijing,China

The concentration of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in the atmosphere of urban Beijing was measured from October 2003 to September 2004 to investigate the origins and spatial-temporal variations of atmospheric Hg. The mean value of Hg concentration is 17.1 ng·m-3 (n=653). The atmospheric Hg data showed spatial-temporal variations throughout the duration of our observation. The maximum GEM concentration (53.7 ng·m-3) was observed at Gucheng in the western area of urban Beijing. The GEM concentrations increased from the north to the south of the studied area, and were higher in winter than in summer. The highest and lowest monthly averages of GEM concentrations were measured to be 23.3 and 4.1 ng·m-3 in January and July, respectively. In addition, GEM concentrations are higher in the daytime than at night in Autumn and from 14 March to 15 April, but daily GEM variation showed an inverse pattern from 22 April to 22 May. In winter, two peak values of GEM concentrations occurred at 13:30 and 21:30. Daily variation of GEM concentrations in summer was the lowest in the four seasons. Mercury from coal combustion was estimated to be the main source of anthropogenic emissions in Beijing from October 2003 to September 2004. Additionally, Hg emission from natural gas burning was estimated to be another dominant source of atmospheric Hg in Beijing.     

Distribution and speciation of mercury in surface water in Wanshan Hg-mined areas, Guizhou Province, China

Mercury as a toxic element poses environmental concerns, especially in historically Hg-mined districts. The Wanshan Hg mine located in the eastern part of Guizhou Province, southwestern China, ranks the largest Hg-producing district in China. Mining at Wanshan was initiated in 221 B.C., but ceased in 2001. Approximately 22000 tons of Hg, 6000 tons of cinnabar and large quantities of mine-wastes had been produced at Wanshan. Significant quantities of calcines, which were piled irregularly near the old mine processing sites and retorts, continue to impact the local environments in the Wanshan area. In this study, a regional contamination of mercury in surface waters collected from the Meizixi, Dashuixi, Huandao and Gaolouping rivers, whose upstreams or branches originate from the hilly karstic area and receive drainage arising from the calcines, was investigated by determining all Hg species in a base-flow and a flood-flow season. Reactive, dissolved, particulate, and total Hg concentrations in surface water varied from 0.60 to 400 ng/L, 11 to 430 ng/L, 1.4 to 9210 ng/L, and 15 to 9260 ng/L, respectively. Total methylmercury in water samples ranges from 0.31 to 25 ng/L. The concentrations of total Hg and particulate Hg in water samples collected during the flood season are higher than those in the base-flow season, whereas, the concentrations of dissolved and reactive Hg are lower with the peak values observed in water samples collected in the base-flow season. A strong positive correlation between total Hg and particulate Hg is noticed in the water samples collected from Hg-mined areas with the proportion higher than 80%.     

Mineralogy, geochemistry and release of heavy metals in wastes from indigenous zinc smelting in Northwest Guizhou

Environmental impact resulting from mining activities is serious and ubiquitous all over the world, and it has become one of the important aspects in environmental geochemistry. The environment was seriously damaged by wastes from historical zinc smelting in Northwest Guizhou. The geochemical distributions of Pb and Zn in the different grain-size fractions of wastes indicate that the coarser particles show similar or even higher heavy metal concentrations than finer ones in the samples, although the concentrations of heavy metals tend generally to increase as the size fractions get finer. The heavy metal contents are very high, with maximum values of 31631, 57178, 2367 and 311.5 mg/kg for Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd, respectively. It is also shown that the residual fraction of Pb is less than that of Zn, accounting for 0.39%-15.75% and 14.3%-46.2%, respectively, of the total, and this is likely relative to Zn-silicate minerals formed from smelting. Although the relative partitioning of Pb and Zn is very low （0.03%- 1.3.% for Pb; 0.03% -3.3% for Zn）, the exchangeable fraction of the waste contains large amounts of heavy metals （1.5%-385 μg/g for Pb; 3-590 μg/g for Zn）. Heavy metals in exchangeable forms have the highest solubility to give the highest potential bioavailability in contrast to other chemical forms. Mineralogical study indicates that the wastes were found to be highly heterogeneous materials, dominated by quartz, feldspar, carbonatite, iron or/and aluminum vitric compounds and a few secondary mineral phases, and their contents vary with the type of smelting wastes. The secondary minerals formed from smelting and sequentially weathering are the major chemical phase for heavy metals. Complex composition of many phases and substitution of elements suggested that many of the phases were found to be non-stoichiometric compounds. Pb was found to be the main Pb phase in the wastes by precipitation or/and adsorption.     

The effects of pH on the adsorption of mercury on laterite from Guizhou Province, China

1 Introduction Because clay minerals have the characteristics ofadsorption, ion exchange capability and expandingcapacity, they are highly capable of adsorbing allkinds of pollutants in waters, thus making soilspossess self-purification functions. Clay m…     

黔北务川瓦厂坪铝土矿床元素迁移规律研究

黔北务正道地区铝土矿矿床属古风化壳沉积型,成矿母岩具多源性,但主要来源于下覆的中下志留统韩家店组。本文依据Grant提出的质量平衡方程和图解法,对瓦厂坪矿床在成矿过程中元素迁移的富集、贫化（亏损）规律进行了定量研究。结果表明,主要成矿母岩韩家店组砂、页岩一中间产物铝土质页岩、粘土岩是主要元素A12O3、TiO2显著富集...     

Methylmercury and total mercury distribution in the sediments of Baihua Reservoir, Guizhou Province, China

Mercury is an important pollutant in lakes. Methylmercury （MeHg）, the most toxic mercury species, which can be formed from inorganic mercury in lakes, can be bioaccumulated into high concentration in food chain and result in a potential threat to human beings. Sediments play an important role for the Hg biogeochemistry in the aquatic systems： Mercury methylation has been shown to be fastest in the surfacial sediments, where the microbial activity is highest. The formation of MeHg in lakes suggests that sediments and/or near-shore wetlands can be the sources of MeHg in aquatic environments. The Baihua Reservoir, located in the suburb of Guiyang, was impounded in 1966. From the 1970s to the 1990s, Guizhou Organic Chemical Plant which used inorganic mercury as catalyst to produce acetic acid, was responsible for the discharge of waste water with high mercury content.     

Distribution and speciation of mercury in the Hongfeng Reservoir,Guizhou Province,China

The water, pore water, sediment, and fish samples were collected from the Hongfeng Reservoir in November 2003 and February 2004 in accordance with trace metal protocols. The average concentrations of total mercury （THg）, dissolved mercury （DHg）, reactive mercury, dissolved gaseous mercury, total methylmercury, and dissolved methylmercury in the water columns were 8.00, 5.70, 0.63, 0.05, 0.16, and 0.07 ng/L, respectively. THg and DHg in the water columns, THg in pore water and THg in lake sediments of the Hongfeng Reservoir showed the level of mercury in the Hongfeng Reservoir was higher than in other natural waters in the world due to the loading of a lot of waste water with relatively high concentrations of mercury, whereas methylmercury concentrations in fish （wet weight） varied from 1.73-51.00 ng/g, much lower than in most remote lakes and reservoirs reported in northern Europe and North America. Methylmercury distributions in pore water and sediments showed methylation occurred mainly in the upper several centimeters of sediment cores in the Hongfeng Reservoir. The concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, total suspended particles, total Hg, and methylmercury were higher at Houwu than those at Daba in November 2003. It is suggested that other pollutants such as N and P from fishing farm and other waste water at Houwu, which resulted in deterioration of water quality, affected the concentrations and distributions of mercury species in the reservoir.     

贵州滥木厂汞矿区土壤与大气间气态汞交换通量及影响因素研究

利用动力学通量箱-大气自动测汞仪联用技术,分别于2002年12月和2003年5月对贵州省西南部滥木厂汞矿区5个采样点的土壤汞释放通量进行了系统的测定.结果表明该区土壤是大气的重要汞释放源.5个采样点土壤释汞通量最高值达10 543.7 ng/(m2·h),平均值最高达(2 283.3±2 434.2)ng/(m2·h)(n=152).结果显示土壤总汞含量与土壤释汞通量关系密切,是决定土壤汞释放的内在因素,光照、温度、湿度和大气汞含量等环境因素与土壤释汞通量有较好的相关性,对土壤汞的释放有显著的影响.     

贵州万山汞矿区稻田土壤汞的分布及污染特征

受历史汞矿开采活动影响,万山汞矿区稻田遭受了严重的汞污染.为了查明万山汞矿区稻田土壤的汞污染现状以及评估其环境质量改善情况,系统采集了受汞矿区影响的五条主干河流沿岸稻田土壤进行汞含量分析,评价总汞和甲基汞污染程度及其生态风险,并与2008 年以来该区域稻田土壤汞数据进行对比.结果表明,研究区稻田土壤的总汞含量为0.21...     

贵州交犁-拉峨汞矿床方解石Sm-Nd同位素年代学

三丹汞矿带位于贵州省南部,是继湘黔汞矿带之外西南大面积低温成矿域内发现的又一重要汞矿带。因此,阐明带内汞矿的成矿物质来源、成矿时代及成矿动力学背景等问题,对深入探讨西南大面积低温成矿域的形成机理有着重要的作用。热液方解石是带内汞矿床的主要脉石矿物之一,作者尝试对三丹汞矿带中段交犁-拉峨汞矿床中的热液方解石进行Sm-Nd同位素测年,获得等时线年龄为(129±20)Ma,MSWD=0.21,εNd=-12.9,说明成矿作用主要发生在燕山晚期。该年龄的报道为深入探讨汞矿床以及西南大面积低温成矿域的形成和演化提供了重要的信息和依据。结合前人研究认为,西南低温成矿作用主要存在两期,早期为145~155 Ma的Sb成矿作用,晚期为120~135 Ma的Sb、Au、Hg、As成矿作用。围岩下奥陶统锅塘组灰岩样品的εNd值为-12.6,与方解石εNd值极为接近,指示该矿床成矿物质可能主要来自奥陶系赋矿海相碳酸盐岩。     

Mercury pollution in two gold mining areas of the Brazilian Amazon

Gold has been exploited intensively in the Brazilian Amazon during the past fifteen years using garimpo methods (small-scale gold mining). In this study, two gold mining areas were investigated, the municipalities of Pocone and Alta Floresta located in the state of Mato Grosso. Central Brazil. The elemental mercury (Hg) used in amalgamating the gold, the final stage of the ore dressing process, has caused abnormal Hg concentrations in waterways. This has occurred principally in the Amazon region, where most of the ore prospected is alluvial. Background levels of metals were determined by analyzing sediments and soils located upstream of the anthropogenic inputs and unaffected by mining activities. The study aimed to evaluate the pollution level in sediments and soils, taking into account drainage waters directly affected by gold mining. ‘Geoaccumulation indexes’ (Igeo) of Hg in sediments from both study areas were used to assesses the pollution level in the aquatic environment. The geoaccumulation indexes of Hg in sediments of the Bento Gomes River in Pocone indicate a relatively high degree of pollution at some sites, even reaching class 4 (1.85 mg/kg). However, when the river reaches the Pantanal swamp, Hg concentrations drop considerably to 0.30 mg/kg. This drop seems to be due to accumulation of metals in the sediments of a lake (sampling site PG-24), which retains most of the sediments transported by the Bento Gomes River. Accumulation of metals in the lake also occurred for Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe and Mn. In the region of Alta Floresta, total Hg concentrations in sediments of the Teles Pires River were studied in the grain size fractions < 74 μm and > 74 μm. Hg concentrations in bottom sediments of this river were higher than those found in the Pocone region, with increases of 1.5 to 30 times the background, and thus reaching an Igeo up to class 5.     

Spatial and temporal distributions of mercury species and controlling factors in Hongfeng Reservoir, Guizhou, China

The Hongfeng Reservoir was built in 1960 and is an alkaline, hyper-eutrophic and seasonal anoxic reservoir due to the contamination from domestic and industrial wastewaters. The water samples at deferent depths from two sampling sites were collected from November 2003 to September 2004 using metal clean protocols. Total Hg （THg）, reactive Hg （RHg）, dissolved total Hg （DHg）, dissolved gaseous mercury （DGM） were measured by gold trap pre-concentration and CVAFS detection. Methyl mercury was measured by distillation followed by aqueous phase ethylation, precollection on a Tenax, isothermal gas chromatography and cold vapor atomic fluorescence detection. There was no discernible seasonal trend （about 8 ng/L） in THg concentration based on the average information developed during the four cruises except for high concentrations at bottom and water-sediment interface in May and September 2004. On the other hand, particulate mercury （PHg） and methyl mercury have discernible seasonal variability. Proportion of PHg increased from 29% in February 2004 to 50% in May 2004. In November 2003, February and May 2004 methyl mercury concentrations were relative low and increased with depth （from 0.13 to 0.40 ng/L）. In September 2004, methyl mercury concentrations increased from 0.14 ng/L in the epilimnion to 0.99 ng/L in the hypolimnion. DGM concentrations varied from 0.024 to 0.11 ng/L and decreased with depth.     

焙烧-湿法预脱硅工艺处理高硫低铝硅比铝土矿石的试验研究及效果——以贵州务川大竹园铝土矿区矿石为例

DS1试样主要化学成分为Al2O3 64.31%,SiO2 8.92%,A/S 7.11,TS 0.30%;该试样经焙烧-湿法预脱硅处理后,A/S由7.11提高到26.37,Al2O3由63.41%升高到78.53%,TS从0.30%降低到0.11%;焙砂在温度280℃,时间60 min,配料比αk 1.45,碱浓度为220 g/l,石灰添加量4%的最佳溶出条件下,Al2O3的绝对溶出率为95.52%,相对溶出率99.59%;Ga的溶出率91.63%,溶出物在1100℃下锻烧2 h,可获得Al2O3>99%,其他各项指标均优于YS/T274-1998AO-1行业标准的氧化铝产品。     

福建沿海地区表层土壤铅来源及分布特征

在福建省沿海经济带生态地球化学调查的基础上,应用富集因子法对福建省沿海地区表层土壤中铅的来源进行了分析,并对其自然来源和人为来源的分布特征及影响因素做了初步探讨。结果表明,福建沿海地区约98.2%的土地面积表层土壤中铅属于自然来源,其余地区含有人为来源铅,且集中分布于个别市县城区;铅自然来源区呈现广域性分布特征,人为来源区则呈现零星的斑点状分布特点;铅自然来源区和人为来源区的空间分布特征在很大程度上受到土壤类型、森林植被分布以及人为活动等因素的影响。