Thallium Distribution in Sediments from the Pearl River Basin, China

Thallium (Tl) is a rare element of high toxicity. Sediments sampled in three representative locations near industries utilizing Tl-containing raw materials from the Pearl River Basin, China were analyzed for their total Tl contents and the Tl contents in four sequentially extracted fractions (i.e., weak acid exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fraction). The results reveal that the total Tl contents (1.25–19.1 µg/g) in the studied sediments were slightly high to quite high compared with those in the Chinese background sediments. This indicates the apparent Tl contamination of the investigated sediments. However, with respect to the chemical fractions, Tl is mainly associated with the residual fraction (>60%) of the sediments, especially of those from the mining area of Tl-bearing pyrite minerals, indicating the relatively low mobility, and low bioavailability of Tl in these sediments. This obviously contrasts with the previous findings that Tl is mainly entrapped in the first three labile fractions of the contaminated samples. Possible reasons were given for the dominating association of Tl with the residual fraction (>95%) of the mining area sediments. The significant role of certain K-containing silicates or minerals of these sediments on retaining Tl in the residual fraction, discovered by this study, provides a special field of research opportunity for the Tl-containing wastewater treatment.

[1]  V. Chrastný,et al.  Lithogenic thallium behavior in soils with different land use , 2009 .

[2]  J. F. López-Sánchez,et al.  Assessment of Extractants for the Determination of Thallium in an Accidentally Polluted Soil , 2008, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[3]  Petr Babula,et al.  Uncommon heavy metals, metalloids and their plant toxicity: a review , 2008 .

[4]  À. Sahuquillo,et al.  A Review of the Different Methods Applied in Environmental Geochemistry For Single and Sequential Extraction of Trace Elements in Soils and Related Materials , 2008 .

[5]  Zhi Dang,et al.  Soil Heavy Metal Pollution Around the Dabaoshan Mine, Guangdong Province, China , 2007 .

[6]  J. Cabała,et al.  Metalliferous Constituents of Rhizosphere Soils Contaminated by Zn–Pb Mining in Southern Poland , 2007 .

[7]  M. Jakubowska,et al.  Thallium in fractions of soil formed on floodplain terraces. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[8]  M. Bäckström,et al.  Element (Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, Tl and Zn), element ratio and lead isotope profiles in a sediment affected by a mining operation episode during the late 19th century , 2006 .

[9]  M. Jakubowska,et al.  Oxidative extraction versus total decomposition of soil in the determination of thallium. , 2006, Talanta.

[10]  H. Lehn,et al.  Thallium-transfer von Böden in pflanzen. korrelation zwischen chemischer form und Pflanzenaufnahme , 1987, Plant and Soil.

[11]  M. McBride,et al.  Environmental factors determining the trace-level sorption of silver and thallium to soils. , 2005, The Science of the total environment.

[12]  T. Viraraghavan,et al.  Thallium: a review of public health and environmental concerns. , 2005, Environment international.

[13]  P. Peng,et al.  Distribution of natural and anthropogenic thallium in the soils in an industrial pyrite slag disposing area. , 2005, The Science of the total environment.

[14]  D. Boyle,et al.  High thallium content in rocks associated with Au–As–Hg–Tl and coal mineralization and its adverse environmental potential in SW Guizhou, China , 2004, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis.

[15]  T. Higashi,et al.  Evaluation of a sequential extraction procedure for the fractionation of thallium in soils and determination of the content by flame atomic absorption spectrometry , 2004 .

[16]  I. Lavilla,et al.  Operational speciation of thallium in environmental solid samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry according to the BCR sequential extraction scheme , 2001 .

[17]  G. Kazantzis.  Thallium in the Environment and Health Effects , 2000 .

[18]  J. Rajkumar,et al.  Local impacts of coal mines and power plants across Canada. I. Thallium in waters and sediments , 2000 .

[19]  T. Fang,et al.  Mechanisms Influencing the Spatial Distribution of Trace Metals in Surficial Sediments off the South-Western Taiwan , 1999 .

[20]  Kent S. Murray,et al.  Particle Size and Chemical Control of Heavy Metals in Bed Sediment from the Rouge River, Southeast Michigan , 1999 .

[21]  Zhong Zhang,et al.  Thallium pollution associated with mining of thallium deposits , 1998 .

[22]  D. Kaplan,et al.  Temporal Changes in Cadmium, Thallium, and Vanadium Mobility in Soil and Phytoavailability under Field Conditions , 1998 .

[23]  Herbert Muntau,et al.  Speciation of Heavy Metals in Soils and Sediments. An Account of the Improvement and Harmonization of Extraction Techniques Undertaken Under the Auspices of the BCR of the Commission of the European Communities , 1993 .

[24]  P. N. Gibson,et al.  X-ray absorption spectroscopy investigation of surface redox transformations of thallium and chromium on colloidal mineral oxides , 1993 .

[25]  M. Sager.  Speciation of thallium in river sediments by consecutive leaching techniques , 1992 .

[26]  M. Stoeppler,et al.  Determination of thallium in sediments of the River Elbe using isotope dilution mass spectrometry with thermal ionization. , 1992, The Analyst.

[27]  U. Ewers,et al.  Intake and health effects of thallium among a population living in the vicinity of a cement plant emitting thallium containing dust , 1981, International archives of occupational and environmental health.