Contributions of discharges from a historic antimony mine to metalloid content of river waters, Marlborough, New Zealand

Wilson, Nick; Craw, Dave; Hunter, Keith A.

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2004.06.011

Cited by 39 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Both are poisonous and have oxidation states of Ϫ3, 0, ϩ3, and ϩ5, with the last two being the most prevalent in the environment (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). The release of both As and Sb into the environment can occur either naturally or anthropogenically (e.g., mining), and both are considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be priority environmental pollutants (6), with maximum drinking water standards of 10 ppb and 6 ppb for As and Sb, respectively (7).…”

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Arsenite Oxidase Also Functions as an Antimonite Oxidase

Wang

Warelow

Kang

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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e Arsenic and antimony are toxic metalloids and are considered priority environmental pollutants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Significant advances have been made in understanding microbe-arsenic interactions and how they influence arsenic redox speciation in the environment. However, even the most basic features of how and why a microorganism detects and reacts to antimony remain poorly understood. Previous work with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain 5A concluded that oxidation of antimonite [Sb(III)] and arsenite [As(III)] required different biochemical pathways. Here, we show with in vivo experiments that a mutation in aioA [encoding the large subunit of As(III) oxidase] reduces the ability to oxidize Sb(III) by approximately one-third relative to the ability of the wild type. Further, in vitro studies with the purified As(III) oxidase from Rhizobium sp. strain NT-26 (AioA shares 94% amino acid sequence identity with AioA of A. tumefaciens) provide direct evidence of Sb(III) oxidation but also show a significantly decreased V max compared to that of As(III) oxidation. The aioBA genes encoding As(III) oxidase are induced by As(III) but not by Sb(III), whereas arsR gene expression is induced by both As(III) and Sb(III), suggesting that detection and transcriptional responses for As(III) and Sb(III) differ. While Sb(III) and As(III) are similar with respect to cellular extrusion (ArsB or Acr3) and interaction with ArsR, they differ in the regulatory mechanisms that control the expression of genes encoding the different Ars or Aio activities. In summary, this study documents an enzymatic basis for microbial Sb(III) oxidation, although additional Sb(III) oxidation activity also is apparent in this bacterium. T he metalloids arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are members of group 15 of the periodic table and are ubiquitous in the environment. Both are poisonous and have oxidation states of Ϫ3, 0, ϩ3, and ϩ5, with the last two being the most prevalent in the environment (1-5). The release of both As and Sb into the environment can occur either naturally or anthropogenically (e.g., mining), and both are considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be priority environmental pollutants (6), with maximum drinking water standards of 10 ppb and 6 ppb for As and Sb, respectively (7). As has received more publicity due to As poisoning that has occurred and that continues (4, 8). However, Sb has emerged as a major contaminant in environments that contain mine tailings, such as those in China, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe (for example, see references 5 and 9-11).Microorganisms are fundamental to elemental cycling in all environments, and this includes As (12, 13) and presumably Sb, although information for the latter is quite sparse. As cycling has been well documented and at present is thought primarily to involve arsenite [As(III)]Narsenate [As(V)] redox transformations and As methylation and demethylation reactions. As(V) is reduced for detoxification purposes (via ArsC) or respiratory...

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Arsenite Oxidase Also Functions as an Antimonite Oxidase

Wang

Warelow

Kang

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…Antimony is an environmentally significant, high K-edge element, found in anthropogenically impacted sediment (Brannon and Patrick 1985;Chen et al 2003;Craw et al 2004;Fillela et al 2002), soil (Mitsunobu et al 2006;Scheinost et al 2006;Takaoka et al 2005;Lintschinger et al 1998), mine tailings (Wilson et al 2004a), surface water (Fillela et al 2002aCraw et al 2004;Wilson et al 2004b), groundwater (Niedzielski and Siepak 2005), plants (He 2007;Murciego 2007), and biota (Koch et al 2000). Antimony is a recognized carcinogen and is emerging as a pollutant of priority interest (Council of the European Union 1998; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1979).…”

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Optimizing experimental design, overcoming challenges, and gaining valuable information from the Sb K-edge XANES region

Fawcett

Gordon

Jamieson

2009

American Mineralogist

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There are many challenges associated with collecting, processing, and interpreting high-energy XAS data. The most significant of these are broad spectra, minimal separation of edge positions, and high background owing to the Compton tail. Studies of the Sb system are a particular challenge owing to its complex bonding character and formation of mixed oxidation-state minerals. Furthermore, in environmental samples such as stream sediment containing mine waste, different Sb phases may coexist. Ways to overcome these challenges and achieve accurate and useful information are presented. Our investigations used Sb K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) to elucidate Sb geochemical behavior. Several Sb mineral spectra are presented, including Sb sulfosalts, and contrasted based on the different hosting and coordination environments around the Sb atom in the crystal structure. These comparisons lead to the recognition of how the different hosting and coordination environments are manifested in the shape of the Sb mineral spectra. In fact from the shape of the spectra, the occupation of the Sb atom in a single or in multiple crystallographic sites, regardless of whether multiple phases are present in the sample, is discernible. Furthermore, we demonstrate that quantitative information can be derived from the XANES region using linear combination fitting of the derivative spectra, rather than the energy spectra. Particularly useful to the advancement of Sb research is the demonstration that a significant amount of information can be gained from the Sb K-edge XANES region.

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“…It is generally assumed that arsenic and antimony have a similar geochemical behavior and a similar toxicity (Wilson et al 2004;Gebel et al 1998). Several years ago it was reported that only small amounts of Sb were found to be easily mobilizable from soils (Lintschinger et al 1998).…”

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Mobilization of Antimony and Arsenic in Soil and Sediment Samples – Evaluation of Different Leaching Procedures

Müller

Daus

Morgenstern

et al. 2007

Water Air Soil Pollut

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This study aims to evaluate the performance of different leaching schemes with respect to the mobilization of antimony and arsenic from polluted samples collected at different sites in Mansfeld District, Germany. Besides the elution by water the leaching by artificial acidic rain and by two different schemes of sequential extraction were employed for estimation of the mobilization of antimony and arsenic. The samples were characterized by X-ray fluorescence analysis for their total concentration of metalloids, metals and main constituents. It was found that both antimony and arsenic show little mobilization with de-ionized water as well as artificial acidic rain in single step batch procedures (≤ 0.13% of the total content). Although the percentage leached is very low, the concentrations in the resulting solutions are of ecotoxicological relevance. BCR procedure indicate a very strong binding of Sb and of As in the samples. Less than 20% of the total content can be leached in sum in all leaching steps, of it most under strongly oxidizing conditions. This scheme seems not suitable for a detailed investigation of possible mobilization processes under environmental conditions for the metalloids under investigation. The four-step extraction procedure by Wenzel et al. gives a more detailed pattern of the binding of antimony and arsenic. This procedure was found to be a suitable scheme for evaluating the possible mobilization processes from the samples contaminated by ore processing waste, especially by change through other ions or under reducing conditions.

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Contributions of discharges from a historic antimony mine to metalloid content of river waters, Marlborough, New Zealand

Cited by 39 publications

References 27 publications

Arsenite Oxidase Also Functions as an Antimonite Oxidase

Arsenite Oxidase Also Functions as an Antimonite Oxidase

Optimizing experimental design, overcoming challenges, and gaining valuable information from the Sb K-edge XANES region

Mobilization of Antimony and Arsenic in Soil and Sediment Samples – Evaluation of Different Leaching Procedures

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