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Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2022) | Viewed by 16038

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sumant Avasarala

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Guest Editor

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916, USA
Interests: biogeochemistry, fate and transport of heavy metals contaminants; water quality and water treatment

Dr. Tyler L. Spano

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Guest Editor

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
Interests: uranium mineralogy; uranium ore deposits; solid-state uranium chemistry; mineral spectroscopy; nuclear forensics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Saglara S. Mandzhieva

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Guest Editor

Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, Southern Federal University, 105 Bolshaya Sadovaya St., 344006 Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Interests: soil contamination; wild and cultural plants; trace elements; potential toxic elements; remediation; phytoremediation; sorbents; sequential extraction; fractionation; heavy metal speciation; heavy metal toxicity; bioaccumulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exposure to heavy metals such as lead (Pb), arsenic (As), uranium (U), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se), and mercury (Hg) has long been identified as a threat to human health. Though these threats are known, exposure to toxic heavy metals continues to rise all over the world. A few of the many possible means of exposure are heavy metal contamination in drinking water through corrosion scales in distribution systems, heavy metal accumulation in urban stormwater runoff, and proximity exposure to mining and mill tailings. An attribute common to most toxic heavy metals and their exposure media is their ability to mobilize after undergoing redox transformations. Therefore, to mitigate such toxic heavy metals, it is critical to fundamentally understand their behavior under environmentally relevant conditions. Specifically, it is important to understand their formation, fate, transformation, and transport that constantly drive such contamination processes. Taking into consideration the urgent need for high-quality research on this topic, we would like to introduce a special platform in Minerals that welcomes investigations focused on the formation, fate, transformation, and transport of synthesized and natural toxic heavy metal minerals, including research areas in geology, minerology, crystal chemistry, environmental toxicology, resource recovery, mineral synthesis, mining legacy, mill tailings, site reclamation, remediation, mining, surface/ground water contamination, biogeochemical reactions, redox transformations, reactions at the soil–water interface, and toxic heavy metal minerals in the air.

Dr. Sumant Avasarala
Dr. Tyler L. Spano
Dr. Saglara Mandzhieva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

geology
minerology
crystal chemistry
resource recovery
mineral synthesis, mining legacy
mill tailings
site reclamation
remediation
surface and ground water

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2828 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Fe, Mn and ²³⁸U Accumulations in Phragmites australis Naturally Growing at the Mill Tailings Pond; Iron Plaque Formation Possibly Related to Root-Endophytic Bacteria Producing Siderophores

by Yukihiro Nakamoto, Kohei Doyama, Toshikatsu Haruma, Xingyan Lu, Kazuya Tanaka, Naofumi Kozai, Kenjin Fukuyama, Shigeru Fukushima, Yoshiyuki Ohara and Keiko Yamaji

Minerals 2021, 11(12), 1337; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11121337 - 29 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3205

Abstract

Mine drainage is a vital water problem in the mining industry worldwide because of the heavy metal elements and low pH. Rhizofiltration using wetland plants is an appropriate method to remove heavy metals from the water via accumulation in the rhizosphere. Phragmites australis is one of the candidate plants for this method because of metal accumulation, forming iron plaque around the roots. At the study site, which was the mill tailings pond in the Ningyo-toge uranium mine, P. australis has been naturally growing since 1998. The results showed that P. australis accumulated Fe, Mn, and ²³⁸U in the nodal roots without/with iron plaque compared with other plant tissues. Among the 837 bacterial colonies isolated from nodal roots, 88.6% showed siderophore production activities. Considering iron plaque formation around P. australis roots, we hypothesized that microbial siderophores might influence iron plaque formation because bacterial siderophores have catechol-like functional groups. The complex of catechol or other phenolics with Fe was precipitated due to the networks between Fe and phenolic derivatives. The experiment using bacterial products of root endophytes, such as Pseudomonas spp. and Rhizobium spp., showed precipitation with Fe ions, and we confirmed that several Pseudomonas spp. and Rhizobium spp. produced unidentified phenolic compounds. In conclusion, root-endophytic bacteria such as Pseudomonas spp. and Rhizobium spp., isolated from metal-accumulating roots of P. australis, might influence iron plaque formation as the metal accumulation site. Iron plaque formation is related to tolerance in P. australis, and Pseudomonas spp. and Rhizobium spp. might indirectly contribute to tolerance. Although there are many issues to be resolved in this research, we hope that the fundamental analysis of plant-microbe interactions would be helpful for phytoremediation at mine sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment)

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17 pages, 4656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Environmental Factors on the Leaching and Immobilization Behavior of Arsenic from Mudstone by Laboratory and In Situ Column Experiments

by Takahiko Arima, Ryosuke Sasaki, Takahiro Yamamoto, Carlito Baltazar Tabelin, Shuichi Tamoto and Toshifumi Igarashi

Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1220; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11111220 - 02 Nov 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1899

Abstract

Hydrothermally altered rocks generated from underground/tunnel projects often produce acidic leachate and release heavy metals and toxic metalloids, such as arsenic (As). The adsorption layer and immobilization methods using natural adsorbents or immobilizer as reasonable countermeasures have been proposed. In this study, two sets of column experiments were conducted, of which one was focused on the laboratory columns and other on the in situ columns, to evaluate the effects of column conditions on leaching of As from excavated rocks and on adsorption or immobilization behavior of As by a river sediment (RS) as a natural adsorbent or immobilizer. A bottom adsorption layer consisting of the RS was constructed under the excavated rock layer or a mixing layer of the excavated rock and river sediment was packed in the column. The results showed that no significant trends in the adsorption and immobilization of As by the RS were observed by comparing laboratory and in situ column experiments because the experimental conditions did not influence significant change in the leachate pH which affects As adsorption or immobilization. However, As leaching concentrations of the in situ experiments were higher than those of the laboratory column experiments. In addition, the lower pH, higher Eh and higher coexisting sulfate ions of the leachate were observed for the in situ columns, compared to the results of the laboratory columns. These results indicate that the leaching concentration of As became higher in the in situ columns, resulting in higher oxidation of sulfide minerals in the rock. This may be due to the differences in conditions, such as temperature and water content, which induce the differences in the rate of oxidation of minerals contained in the rock. On the other hand, since the leachate pH affecting As adsorption or immobilization was not influenced significantly, As adsorption or immobilization effect by the RS were effective for both laboratory and in situ column experiments. These results indicate that both in situ and laboratory column experiments are useful in evaluating leaching and adsorption of As by natural adsorbents, despite the fact that the water content which directly affects the rate of oxidation is sensitive to weathering conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment)

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18 pages, 7577 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Hard Coal Combustion in Individual Household Furnaces on the Atmosphere Quality in Pszczyna (Poland)

by Danuta Smołka-Danielowska, Mariola Jabłońska and Sandra Godziek

Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1155; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11111155 - 20 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1631

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the influence of ashes produced in the combustion of hard coal and eco-pea coal in individual household furnaces on the air quality in the region under analysis. To achieve this objective, we analysed the chemical and mineral composition of ashes, suspended and respirable dusts with particular attention being paid to phases containing potentially toxic elements (PTE) (As, Cd, Pb, Se, Ni, Ba, Tl, S, Th and U), and sulphur. The research methods used included powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Measurements were taken for PM concentrations, total suspended particulate matter (TSP), gaseous TVOC pollutants (volatile organic compounds) and soot at various altitudes and a mobile laboratory with measuring apparatus placed in the basket of a manned hot-air balloon was used for the analysis. The use of Poland’s unique laboratory allowed us to obtain real-time measurements up to an altitude of 1200 m above sea level. Measurements using unmanned units such as drones do not enable such analyses. The research confirmed that PTE concentrations in ash and its mineral composition are varied. The PM10 and PM2.5 ashes are dominated by sodium chloride, particles containing C, and a substance composed of S + C + O + N + Na. Trace amounts of Pb and Zn sulphides are also present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment)

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Review

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17 pages, 1752 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainable Amelioration of Heavy Metals in Soil Ecosystem: Existing Developments to Emerging Trends

by Garima Awasthi, Varad Nagar, Saglara Mandzhieva, Tatiana Minkina, Mahipal Singh Sankhla, Pritam P. Pandit, Vinay Aseri, Kumud Kant Awasthi, Vishnu D. Rajput, Tatiana Bauer and Sudhakar Srivastava

Minerals 2022, 12(1), 85; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12010085 - 12 Jan 2022

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3444

Abstract

The consequences of heavy metal contamination are progressively degrading soil quality in this modern period of industry. Due to this reason, improvement of the soil quality is necessary. Remediation is a method of removing pollutants from the root zone of plants in order to minimize stress and increase yield of plants grown in it. The use of plants to remove toxins from the soil, such as heavy metals, trace elements, organic chemicals, and radioactive substances, is referred to as bioremediation. Biochar and fly ash techniques are also studied for effectiveness in improving the quality of contaminated soil. This review compiles amelioration technologies and how they are used in the field. It also explains how nanoparticles are becoming a popular method of desalination, as well as how they can be employed in heavy metal phytoremediation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment)

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16 pages, 1523 KiB

Open AccessReview

Arsenic Remediation through Sustainable Phytoremediation Approaches

by Sudhakar Srivastava, Anurakti Shukla, Vishnu D. Rajput, Kundan Kumar, Tatiana Minkina, Saglara Mandzhieva, Antonina Shmaraeva and Penna Suprasanna

Minerals 2021, 11(9), 936; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11090936 - 28 Aug 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4561

Abstract

Arsenic contamination of the environment is a serious problem threatening the health of millions of people exposed to arsenic (As) via drinking water and crops grown in contaminated areas. The remediation of As-contaminated soil and water bodies needs to be sustainable, low-cost and feasible to apply in the most affected low-to-middle income countries, like India and Bangladesh. Phytoremediation is an aesthetically appreciable and successful approach that can be used for As decontamination with use of the best approach(es) and the most promising plant(s). However, phytoremediation lacks the required speed and sometimes the stress caused by As could diminish plants’ potential for remediation. To tackle these demerits, we need augment plants’ potential with appropriate technological methods including microbial and nanoparticles applications and genetic modification of plants to alleviate the As stress and enhance As accumulation in phytoremediator plants. The present review discusses the As phytoremediation prospects of soil and water bodies and the usefulness of various plant systems in terms of high biomass, high As accumulation, bioenergy potential, and economic utility. The potential and prospects of assisted phytoremediation approaches are also presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Formation, Fate, and Transformation of Toxic Heavy Metal Minerals (U, Pb, As, Cr, Se and Hg) in the Environment)

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