Uranium and arsenic contamination in the former Mondego Sul uranium mine area, Central Portugal

Neiva, A.M.R.; Antunes, I.M.H.R.; Carvalho, P. C. S.; Santos, Antonio Colmenar

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2015.12.004

Cited by 41 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An area for investigation was selected to make in situ gamma radiation measurements and to collect samples of soils and stream sediments. These sediments were deposited by a river that intersects the area of the local geochemical anomaly, and are used to supply a rockfill dam located downstream in Monte Claro (Rodriguez-Alvarez and Sanchez, 2000; Albanese et al, 2007; United States Army Corps of Engineers, 2007;Kayzar et al, 2014;Neiva et al, 2016). The anomaly is located close to the selected bulk sampling area and to the experimental leaching processing pilot plant that was built for a pre-feasibility mining study of Nisa ore deposit.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For an initial analysis of this, it is advisable to evaluate metal/semi-metal dispersion and bioavailability according to the environmental factors that influence the transport and dynamics of elements within different mediums and between different mediums (for example, water-soil-plant systems). Physical and reactive transport capacity in mediums depends on various environmental factors (Zheleznyaket al, 1997;Rodriguez-Alvarez et al, 2000;IAEA, 2001;Neiva et al, 2016). For these reasons, there is a high probability that proportions of metals and semi-metals in an area are not "geo-available" or "bio-available", and therefore only a proportion of each measured concentration is available in a contamination sense.…”

Section: Comparison Of Natural Background Metal and Semi-metal Elemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characterization of local geochemical anomalies in soils and stream sediments for improving land-use planning: A case study from Nisa, Portugal

Ferreira¹,

Barbosa²,

Almeida³

2016

Emir. J. Food Agric

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparison Of Natural Background Metal and Semi-metal Elemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of local geochemical anomalies in soils and stream sediments for improving land-use planning: A case study from Nisa, Portugal

Ferreira¹,

Barbosa²,

Almeida³

2016

Emir. J. Food Agric

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The presence of high amounts of Fe (Table 1) indicates a clear association with Fe-oxy and hydroxides which are common in stream sediments (e.g. Holmström and Ö hlander 2001;Antunes et al 2014;Neiva et al 2016). Moreover, extreme values observed for Ba, Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, As, W and Cd point out to the Au, Sn-W and Ba-Zn mineralizations occurring around the study area, as these are responsible for their content in the stream sediments (e.g., Antunes et al 2002;Jordan et al 2007;Antunes et al 2014).…”

Section: Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial environmental risk evaluation of potential toxic elements in stream sediments

Antunes

Albuquerque

Roque

2018

Environ Geochem Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Potential toxic elements (PTE), in stream sediments, were used as contamination indicators for the definition of high-/low-grade spatial clusters in the Monfortinho area (Central Portugal). A set of 271 stream sediment samples was used for spatial modelling and further definition of rings of enrichment-high and low rings. A three-step multivariate statistical and geostatistical approach was used: (1) principal components analysis for PTE's association evaluation and dimensionality reduction; (2) ordinary kriging as an unbiased interpolator for content inference and construction of a continuous representation of the considered attributes, at any arbitrary spatial location; (3) G clustering algorithm for the definition of high and low significance clusters. A moderate contamination in stream sediments is observed for almost all the considered PTE and a very high contamination for Ba, Cr and B. High contamination clusters are observed for Fe, Ni, Ba, Cu, B, Zn, V-northwest and southeast clusters-and for Cr-north and southwest clusters. The contamination degree index varies from moderate to high, which is mainly associated with the old mineralizations. The high computed rings often overlap the areas of abandoned Ba-Zn mineralization, as well as the sedimentary gold concentrations, along the Erges River banks. Tin and Cd spatial distribution may be related to former cassiterite exploitations in the survey area. Chromium is possibly connected with the schists. The definition of clusters with a PTE spatial enrichment will allow for the identification of contamination activities and therefore, the definition of adequate monitoring and mitigation actions.

show abstract

“…The highest contamination level in the soils occurred close to the dumps. The presence of montmorillonite -a great adsorbent of metals and metalloids -in the coal rejects and soils may be influencing these results and could explain the high amount of U in the samples (Neiva et al, 2016).…”

Section: Chemical Features Of the Soils Sediments And Coal Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

Natural radionuclides in plants, soils and sediments affected by U-rich coal mining activities in Brazil

Galhardi

Garcı́a-Tenorio

Bonotto

et al. 2017

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mining activities can increase the mobility of metals by accelerating the dissolution and leaching of minerals from the rocks and tailing piles to the environment and, consequently, their availability for plants and subsequent transfer to the food chain. The weathering of minerals and the disposal of coal waste in tailing piles can accelerate the generation of acid mine drainage (AMD), which is responsible for the higher dissolution of metals in mining areas. In this context, the behavior of U, Th and K in soils and sediment, and the transfer factor (TF) of U,U and Po for soybean, wheat, pine and eucalyptus cultivated around a coal mine in southern Brazil was evaluated. Alpha and gamma spectrometry were used for the measurements of the activity concentration of the radioelements.Po was the radionuclide that is most accumulated in the plants, especially in the leaves. When comparing the plant species, pine showed the highest TF values for U (0.311 ± 0.420) for leaves, while eucalyptus showed the highest TF forU (0.344 ± 0.414) for leaves. In general, TF were higher for the leaves of soybean and wheat when compared to the grains, and grains of wheat showed higher TF for Po andU than grains of soybean. Deviations from the natural U isotopic ratio were recorded at all investigated areas, indicating possible industrial and mining sources of U for the vegetables. A safety assessment of transport routes and accumulation of radionuclides in soils with a potential for cultivation is important, mainly in tropical areas contaminated with solid waste and effluents from mines and industry.

show abstract

Uranium and arsenic contamination in the former Mondego Sul uranium mine area, Central Portugal

Cited by 41 publications

References 23 publications

Characterization of local geochemical anomalies in soils and stream sediments for improving land-use planning: A case study from Nisa, Portugal

Characterization of local geochemical anomalies in soils and stream sediments for improving land-use planning: A case study from Nisa, Portugal

Spatial environmental risk evaluation of potential toxic elements in stream sediments

Natural radionuclides in plants, soils and sediments affected by U-rich coal mining activities in Brazil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About