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Dust from Zambian smelters: mineralogy and contaminant bioaccessibility

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Abstract

Metal smelting is often responsible for local contamination of environmental compartments. Dust materials escaping from the smelting facilities not only settle in the soil, but can also have direct effects on populations living close to these operations (by ingestion or inhalation). In this particular study, we investigate dusts from Cu–Co metal smelters in the Zambian Copperbelt, using a combination of mineralogical techniques (XRD, SEM/EDS, and TEM/EDS), in order to understand the solid speciation of the contaminants, as well as their bioaccessibility using in vitro tests in simulated gastric and lung fluids to assess the exposure risk for humans. The leaching of metals was mainly dependent on the contaminant mineralogy. Based on our results, a potential risk can be recognized, particularly from ingestion of the dust, with bioaccessible fractions ranging from 21 to 89 % of the total contaminant concentrations. In contrast, relatively low bioaccessible fractions were observed for simulated lung fluid extracts, with values ranging from 0.01 % (Pb) up to 16.5 % (Co) of total contaminant concentrations. Daily intakes via oral exposure, calculated for an adult (70 kg, ingestion rate 50 mg dust per day), slightly exceeded the tolerable daily intake limits for Co (1.66× for fly ash and 1.19× for slag dust) and occasionally also for Pb (1.49×, fly ash) and As (1.64×, electrostatic precipitator dust). Cobalt has been suggested as the most important pollutant, and the direct pathways of the population’s exposures to dust particles in the industrial parts of the Zambian Copperbelt should be further studied in interdisciplinary investigations.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 210/12/1413 and 13-17501S), and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MSM 0021620855) and was carried out within the framework of IGCP Project No. 594 (“Assessment of impact of mining and mineral processing on the environment and human health in Africa”). Peter Lemkin and Madeleine Štulíková are thanked for review of the English in the manuscript.

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  1. Martina Vítková

    Present address: Department of Environmental Geosciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Vojtěch Ettler, Martina Vítková & Martin Mihaljevič

  2. Laboratories of the Geological Institutes, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Ondřej Šebek

  3. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the AS CR, v.v.i., 250 68, Husinec-Řež, Czech Republic

    Mariana Klementová

  4. Czech Geological Survey, Geologická 6, 152 00, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    František Veselovský & Bohdan Kříbek

  5. Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czech Technical University, Technická 4, 166 07, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Pavel Vybíral

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  1. Vojtěch Ettler
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Correspondence to Vojtěch Ettler.

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Ettler, V., Vítková, M., Mihaljevič, M. et al. Dust from Zambian smelters: mineralogy and contaminant bioaccessibility. Environ Geochem Health 36, 919–933 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9609-4

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