Environmental geochemistry and bioaccumulation/bioavailability of uranium in a post-mining context – The Bois-Noirs Limouzat mine (France)

Assessment of 226Ra and U colloidal transport in a mining environment

“…The DGT technique (Davison and Zhang, 1994;Phrommavanh et al, 2013;Drozdzak et al, 2015;Drozdzak et al, 2016;Leermakers et al, 2016;Husson et al, 2019) was used to estimate the truly dissolved fraction. This technique, developed by Davison and Zhang (1994) consists of trapping the elements of interest on a passive sampler comprising a binding gel, a diffusion gel, and a filter membrane.…”

“…In natural waters, trace elements including radionuclides can be distributed into three fractions distinguished by their difference in size (Figure 1): the particulate fraction greater than 0.45 µm (corresponding to the water filtration threshold usually adopted for environmental monitoring), the truly dissolved fraction lower than 1 nm and the colloidal fraction with a size between these two fractions (Stumm, 1997;Missana et al, 2004;Aiken et al, 2011). Colloids are mainly composed of minerals exhibiting retention properties towards trace elements such as Fe-Ti-Al oxy-hydroxides, phosphates, carbonates, sulfates, silica, and aluminosilicate phases found in oxidizing contexts, and sulfides under reducing conditions (Kaplan et al, 1994;Turrero et al, 1995;Porcelli et al, 2001;Nordstrom, 2011;Nordstrom et al, 2015;Husson et al, 2019;Javed et al, 2020;Equeenuddin et al, 2020;Silva et al, 2021). They can also be a mix of organic substances and minerals (Kretzschmar and Schäfer, 2005;Wang et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2014;Novotnik et al, 2018).…”

Bioremediation techniques for the treatment of mine tailings: A review

“…Presence of a high concentration of diverse heavy metal compositions, low organic and nutrient content, and disturbed topsoil conditions over a wide-area make treatment of MT very challenging. In case of mine tailings, metal dominates the pollutants, such that complete elimination of metal contaminants from the environment is Husson et al, 2019 not feasible. Hence, detoxification of the metal via ionic or physical changes and immobilization of the same through encapsulation, chelation, and precipitation within cells or in the soil are the options for its toxicity remediation (Becerra-Castro et al, 2012;Gu et al, 2020;Khan et al, 2020).…”

Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films technique for uranium monitoring along a salinity gradient: A comparative study on the performance of Chelex-100, Dow-PIWBA, Diphonix, and Lewatit FO 36 resin gels in the Scheldt estuary

“…The elution factor indicates the elution efficiency of the used eluent in relation to the total amount of analyte accumulated on the gel. As the Chelex-100 [38,44], Diphonix [17,43], and Dow-PIWBA [45,55] resin gels are widely used for uranium determination, the validated elution protocols have been followed in this study. The U mass accumulated on Chelex-100 was eluted by 1 ml of 1 M HNO3 at laboratory temperature.…”