Abstract:The gold mining plant of Oman was studied to assess the contribution of gold mining on the degree of heavy metals into different environmental media. Samples were collected from the gold mining plant area in tailings, stream waters, soils and crop plants. The collected samples were analyzed for 13 heavy metals including vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), aluminium (Al), strontium (Sr), iron (Fe) and barium (Ba). The water in the acid evaporation pond showed a high concentration of Fe as well as residual quantities of Zn, V, and Al, whereas water from the citizens well showed concentrations of Al above those of Omani and WHO standards. The desert plant species growing closed to the gold pit indicated high concentrations of heavy metals (Mn, Al, Ni, Fe, Cr, and V), while the similar plant species used as a control indicated lesser concentrations of all heavy metals. The surface water (blue) indicated very high concentrations of copper and significant concentrations of Mn, Ni, Al, Fe, Zn, lead, Co and Cd. The results revealed that some of the toxic metals absorbed by plants indicated significant metal immobilization.

No abstract

In an attempt to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in diesel contaminated underground water in Oman (Rustaq), Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry was first used to determine the different concentrations in a standard mixture containing 16 PAHs. Retention time and calibration curves were obtained for all aromatic compounds and were used to identify a given analyte as well as its concentration in the contaminated underground water. Micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) was then used to treat standard aqueous solution of PAHs at low concentration (~ 1 ppb) using an edible nonionic surfactant (Tween 80). The totality of the mixture components was completely rejected. Within the experimental detection limit (± 0.01 ppb), the residual PAH concentrations were less than 0.01 ppb in accord with the allowed concentrations in drinking water. Likewise, excellent rejections of PAHs in MEUF treatment of diesel contaminated underground water at an Omani site (Rustaq) were observed. The concentration of PAHs was reduced to less than 0.01 ppb, the accepted limit for the most toxic member of the PAH group (benzo(a)pyrene).