Marek Rouillon

Environmental arsenic, cadmium and lead dust emissions from metal mine operations: Implications for environmental management, monitoring and human health

Although blood lead values in children are predominantly falling globally, there are locations where lead exposure remains a persistent problem. One such location is Broken Hill, Australia, where the percentage of blood lead values >10 μg/dL in children aged 1-4 years has risen from 12.6% (2010), to 13% (2011) to 21% (2012). The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of metal contamination in places accessible to children. This study examines contemporary exposure risks from arsenic, cadmium, lead, silver and zinc in surface soil and dust, and in pre- and post-play hand wipes at six playgrounds across Broken Hill over a 5-day period in September 2013. Soil lead (mean 2,450 mg/kg) and zinc (mean 3,710 mg/kg) were the most elevated metals in playgrounds. Surface dust lead concentrations were consistently elevated (mean 27,500 μg/m(2)) with the highest lead in surface dust (59,900 μg/m(2)) and post-play hand wipes (60,900 μg/m(2)) recorded close to existing mining operations. Surface and post-play hand wipe dust values exceeded national guidelines for lead and international benchmarks for arsenic, cadmium and lead. Lead isotopic compositions ((206)Pb/(207)Pb, (208)Pb/(207)Pb) of surface dust wipes from the playgrounds revealed the source of lead contamination to be indistinct from the local Broken Hill ore body. The data suggest frequent, cumulative and ongoing mine-derived dust metal contamination poses a serious risk of harm to children.

Reducing risk and increasing confidence of decision making at a lower cost: In-situ pXRF assessment of metal-contaminated sites.

This study evaluates the in-situ use of field portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) for metal-contaminated site assessments, and assesses the advantages of increased sampling to reduce risk, and increase confidence of decision making at a lower cost. Five metal-contaminated sites were assessed using both in-situ pXRF and ex-situ inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses at various sampling resolutions. Twenty second in-situ pXRF measurements of Mn, Zn and Pb were corrected using a subset of parallel ICP-MS measurements taken at each site. Field and analytical duplicates revealed sampling as the major contributor (>95% variation) to measurement uncertainties. This study shows that increased sampling led to several benefits including more representative site characterisation, higher soil-metal mapping resolution, reduced uncertainty around the site mean, and reduced sampling uncertainty. Real time pXRF data enabled efficient, on-site decision making for further judgemental sampling, without the need to return to the site. Additionally, in-situ pXRF was more cost effective than the current approach of ex-situ sampling and ICP-MS analysis, even with higher sampling at each site. Lastly, a probabilistic site assessment approach was applied to demonstrate the advantages of integrating estimated measurement uncertainties into site reporting.

Geochemical sources, forms and phases of soil contamination in an industrial city

This study examines current soil contamination in an Australian industrial city, Newcastle. Public (roadside verges and parks) and private (homes) surface soils (n=170) contained metal(loid)s elevated above their respective Australian Health Investigation Levels (HIL). Lead (Pb), the most common contaminant in the city, exceeds the HIL for residential soils (HIL-A, 300mg/kg) in 88% of private soils (median: 1140mg/kg). In-vitro Pb bio-accessibility analysis of selected soils (n=11) using simulated gastric fluid showed a high affinity for Pb solubilisation (maximum Pb concentration: 5190mg/kg, equating to 45% Pb bio-accessibility). Highly soluble Pb-laden Fe- and Mn-oxides likely contribute to the bio-accessibility of the Pb. Public and private space surface soils contain substantially less radiogenic Pb (range: 208Pb/207Pb: 2.345-2.411, 206Pb/207Pb: 1.068-1.312) than local background soil (208Pb/207Pb: 2.489, 206Pb/207Pb: 1.198), indicating anthropogenic contamination from the less radiogenic Broken Hill type Pb ores (208Pb/207Pb: 2.319, 206Pb/207Pb: 1.044). Source apportionment using Pb isotopic ratio quantification and soil mineralogy indicate the citys historic copper and steel industries contributed the majority of the soil contaminants through atmospheric deposition and use of slag waste as fill material. High-temperature silicates and oxides combined with rounded particles in the soil are characteristic of smelter dust emissions. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils, sometimes associated with ferrous metal smelting, coal processing or burning of fossil fuels, shows that these too pose a health exposure risk (calculated in comparison to benzo(a)pyrene: n=12, max: 13.5mg/kg, HIL: 3mg/kg).

Handheld X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometers: Radiation Exposure Risks of Matrix-Specific Measurement Scenarios:

This study investigates X-ray intensity and dispersion around handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments during the measurement of a range of sample matrices to establish radiation exposure risk during operation. Four handheld XRF instruments representing three manufacturers were used on four smooth, flat-lying materials of contrasting matrix composition. Dose rates were measured at 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm intervals every 30° around the instrument at 0 and 45° from the horizontal, as well as vertically from the instrument screen. The analysis of polyethylene recorded dose rates 156 times higher (on average) than steel measurements and 34 times higher than both quartz sand and quartz sandstone. A worst-case exposure scenario was assumed where a user analyses a polyethylene material at arms reach for 1 h each working day for one year. This scenario resulted in an effective body dose of 73.5 μSv, equivalent to three to four chest X-rays (20 μSv) a year, 20 times lower than the average annual background radiation exposure in Australia and well below the annual exposure limit of 1 mSv for non-radiation workers. This study finds the advantages of using handheld XRF spectrometers far outweighs the risk of low radiation exposure linked to X-ray scattering from samples.