L. A. Bernardez

Characterization of the lead smelter slag in Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil

For 33 years, a primary lead smelter operated in Santo Amaro (Brazil). Since the 1970s, large amounts of Pb and Cd have been widely documented in the blood and hair of people living near the smelter. The plant closed down in 1993, and several years later, the Pb levels in the blood of children under 4 years of age living near the smelter were high, where the disposed lead slag was suspected to be the main source of this contamination. The objective of this study is to elucidate the source of the Pb contamination and any other potentially toxic contamination, focusing on the characterization of the slag. The samples used for this characterization study were taken from the slag heaps. The results of the chemical analysis showed that the major constituents of the slag, in decreasing order of wt%, were the following: Fe(2)O(3) (28.10), CaO (23.11), SiO(2) (21.39), ZnO (9.47), MgO (5.44), PbO (4.06), Al(2)O(3) (3.56), C (2.26), MnO (1.44), Na(2)O (0.27), S (0.37), K(2)O (0.26), and TiO(2) (0.25). The Cd content of the slag was 57.3mg/kg, which is relatively low. The X-ray diffraction and the electron probe microanalyzer X-ray mapping indicated that the major phases in the slag were wüstite, olivine, kirschsteinite, and franklinite. Only spheroidal metallic Pb was found in the slag. The leaching study showed that the slag was stable at a pH greater than 2.8, and only in an extremely acidic environment was the solubilization of the Pb enhanced significantly. The solubilization of Zn was very limited in the acidic and alkaline environments. These results can be explained by the limited leachability of the metallic Pb and Zn-bearing compounds. The leaching study used TCLP, SPLP, and SWEP and indicated that the lead slag was stable in weak acidic environments for short contact times.

Isotope Source Signatures for a Primary Lead Smelter Located Close to Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil

From 1960 to 1993, a primary lead smelter operated in the Santo Amaro region, close to Todos os Santos Bay in Brazil, using the classical sinter-roasting process followed by smelting and refining. A high lead content was found in the sediments from Todos os Santos Bay, which has a large circulation and receives the discharge from three rivers. Lead stable isotope ratios provide information about the ore mineralization and can be used to evaluate the origin and fate of the lead pollution. The objective of this study is to identify the isotopic signature of the major effluents of this lead smelter and correlate it with the origin of the galena concentrate that generated it. The X-ray microanalysis confirms that the lead occurs in the slag in the metallic state. The soil has a high lead content (about 0.90%) of oxidized lead. The lead isotopic ratios indicated that the slag isotopic ratios (208Pb/204Pb = 34.8; 207Pb/204Pb = 15.3; 206Pb/204Pb = 15.1) are close to the soil value (208Pb/204Pb = 36.2; 207Pb/204Pb = 15.9; 206Pb/204Pb = 16.4) and both agree with the values for the galena from the Boquira mine region (208Pb/204Pb = 34.6±1.1; 207Pb/204Pb = 15.3±0.4; 206Pb/204Pb = 14.7±0.2). These results indicate that no isotopic fractionation occurred in the roasting-smelting process, therefore the original Boquira isotope ratios can be used as the isotopic signature of the lead dispersed from the Santo Amaro smelter.

Improved method for enumerating sulfate-reducing bacteria using optical density

Graphical abstract

Remarks on the short-term chemical stability of primary lead smelting slag

Abstract The short-term leaching behavior of a landfilled primary Pb smelter slag from the Santo Amaro (Brazil) smelter was investigated using about 1-day contact time with acid and alkaline solutions. Strong alteration of this slag was observed only below pH 3. In this extreme environment, in addition to the previously discussed behavior of Ca, Si, Fe, Pb and Zn, the As, Cd and Cu were solubilized; however, due to the small content of these elements in the slag, the solution has low content of them. The hierarchical cluster analysis of the results of several leaching tests shows that Pb, As and Cd are part of a group related to the metallic lead phase trapped in the matrix. There is a second group related to some components of the slag matrix (Zn, Ca and Fe) likely oxides; and Si alone is part of a third group related to the slag matrix. The sequential leaching experiments indicate that the main lead solubilization is related to the oxidant environment which confirms the predominance of lead as metallic particles inside the large particles of the slag matrix. These results indicate that, despite the fact that the landfilled slag removal is needful, it is a secondary task to reduce the contamination risk of the region of the former smelter.

Remediation of Clay Soils Contaminated with Potentially Toxic Elements: The Santo Amaro Lead Smelter, Brazil, Case

ABSTRACT The remediation of clayey soil contaminated by potentially toxic elements is a challenging task, especially because of the low permeability and strong affinity of such toxic elements, which prevent the effective use of low-cost in situ remediation methods. The clay soil from the region of the former Santo Amaro primary lead smelter has high concentrations of potentially toxic elements, especially Pb, Cd, Sb, and Zn. This study presents a preliminary evaluation of remediation by soil washing and thermal stabilization, which can support clean-up initiatives for this site. The treatment results indicate that soil washing using EDTA can be an effective method to clean up the soil; however, the solid-liquid separation step by filtration is slow. Soil thermal treatment at temperatures higher than 800°C in an oxidant atmosphere results in the formation of ceramic structure because of the high smectite content, which stabilizes the potentially toxic elements. The estimated cost for remediation by soil excavation, replacement, and stabilization, of the critically contaminated site at the Santo Amaro region is estimated at about 20 to 30 million US

Micellar Solutions to Recover Diesel in Sand

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Characterization and treatment of artisanal gold mine tailings

Abstract In this chapter, the removal of diesel fuel by a washing process using micellar solution is addressed. Micellar solubilization is an important step for removal of organic contaminants from the soil matrix, especially for low aqueous solubility organic contaminants such as diesel. In addition to fundamental studies, laboratory and field studies on removal of diesel from contaminated soil and mathematical models applied are also reviewed to show the applicability of this technology. In particular this chapter presents numerical simulations of laboratory experiments where diesel, initially present at residual saturation in a sand column, was recovered by injecting a micellar solution containing a ionic surfactant and two alcohols. The micellar solution was developed and optimized for diesel recovery using phase diagrams and soil column experiments. Numerical simulations with the compositional simulator UTCHEM are also discussed. The combination of micellar solutions with other remediation techniques such as biodegradation applied to diesel recovery is presented.