Remediation potential of mining, agro‑industrial, and urban wastes against acid mine drainage
Metadatos
Afficher la notice complèteAuteur
Aguilar Garrido, Antonio; Paniagua López, Mario; Sierra Aragón, Manuel; Martínez Garzón, Francisco Javier; Martín Peinado, Francisco JoséEditorial
Springer Nature
Date
2023-07-26Referencia bibliográfica
Aguilar-Garrido, A., Paniagua-López, M., Sierra-Aragón, M. et al. Remediation potential of mining, agro-industrial, and urban wastes against acid mine drainage. Sci Rep 13, 12120 (2023). [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39266-4]
Patrocinador
Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Turbera del Agia S.L., Biomasa del Guadalquivir S.A; Cooperativa San Isidro de Loja S.C.A; Minas de Alquife S.L.U.,; Faculty of Sciences of GranadaRésumé
Acid mine drainage (AMD) poses serious consequences for human health and ecosystems. Novel
strategies for its treatment involve the use of wastes. This paper evaluates the remediation
potential of wastes from urban, mining and agro-industrial activities to address acidity and high
concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in AMD. Samples of these waste products were
spiked with an artificially prepared AMD, then pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and PTE concentrations
in the leachates were measured. The artificial AMD obtained through oxidation of Aznalcóllar’s
tailing showed an ultra-acid character (pH − 2.89 ± 0.03) and extreme high electrical conductivity
(EC − 3.76 ± 0.14 dS m−
1). Moreover, most PTE were above maximum regulatory levels in natural
and irrigation waters. Wastes studied had a very high acid neutralising capacity, as well as a strong
capacity to immobilise PTE. Inorganic wastes, together with vermicompost from pruning, reduced
most PTE concentrations by over 95%, while organic wastes retained between 50 and 95%. Thus,
a wide range of urban, mining, and agro-industrial wastes have a high potential to be used in the
treatment of AMD. This study provides valuable input for the development of new eco-technologies
based on the combination of wastes (eg. Technosols, permeable reactive barriers) to remediate
degraded environments