MARKERS OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL MONITORING IN THE SULPHIDE ORES TAILINGS AREA

Abstract

Relevance. Sulfide mining tailings as a source of chemical element pollution of the environment are a significant risk to household water use and public health. On the example of the sulfide tailings impoundment at the Komsomolsk settlement (Kemerovo region), containing cyanidation wastes of gold-arsenopyrite-quartz ores, the effects of arsenic and antimony on warm-blooded animals is shown. The elemental markers of wastewater toxicity were substantiated in the experiment on laboratory animals. The aim of the research is to substantiate the environmental monitoring markers and warm-blooded organisms under the risk of exposure to tailings of sulfide ore dressing waste. The methods of the research included sampling water from a hydraulic dump to use it as a drink for experimental animals (male Wistar white rats weighing 250–290 g). Water was analyzed for a number of chemical elements by ICP-AES. Further, after preparation of the animals, the elemental composition of the tissues was determined. The analysis was performed by the XRD-SI method at the VEPP-3 elemental analysis station (INP SB RAS). The emission spectra were processed using the AXIL program. The results. According to the elemental composition of tissues of organs – liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, thyroid gland – of male white Wistar rats, the markers of exposure of the combined action of antimony and arsenic in doses of 42–61 µg/kg/day and 10–15 µg/kg/day, respectively, were determined. It was found that the effect of antimony and arsenic in the doses studied is accompanied by their accumulation in the tissues of animal organs, and changes in the balance of other elements – zinc, copper, iron, manganese, strontium, nickel, and lead. Coefficients of absorption and elimination of arsenic and antimony for tissues of internal organs at oral intake were calculated and the correlation of elements in different organs was shown.

Keywords

• sulfide ores
• tailings
• drainage waters
• antimony
• arsenic
• drinking water
• tissues of organs
• absorption constant
• elimination constant