Transformation/dissolution characterization of tungsten and tungsten compounds for aquatic hazard classification
The transformation/dissolution protocol (T/DP) for metals and sparingly soluble metal compounds was applied to determine the transformation/dissolution (T/D) characteristics of yellow tungsten trioxide, WO3; blue tungsten oxide, WOx, x taken as 2.9; tungsten disulphide, WS2; tungsten metal, W; 3 samples of tungsten carbide, WC; sodium tungstate, Na2WO4 · 2H2O; ammonium paratungstate (APT), (NH4)10(H2W12O42) · 4H2O; and ammonium metatungstate (AMT) (NH4)6(H2W12O40) · 3H2O. The T/D data were used to derive aquatic hazard classification outcomes under the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UN GHS) and European Union Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (EU CLP) schemes by comparing the data with selected acute and chronic ecotoxicity reference values (ERVs) of 31 and 3.37 mg W/L, respectively. In addition to the concentration of total dissolved tungsten (W), the T/D solutions were analyzed for the concentration of the tungstate anion, because speciation can be an important factor in establishing the ecotoxicity of dissolved metals. Results show that the tungstate anion was the predominant W‐bearing species in solution for all substances examined at pH 6 and 8.5. It was found that the 100 mg/L loadings of both the yellow WO3 and the blue WOx exceeded the 31 mg/L acute ERV, so they would classify as Acute 3‐Chronic 3 under the UN GHS scheme but they would not classify under the EU CLP. An effect of pH on the reactivity of the W metal was observed with 3% and 16% W dissolution at pH 6 and 8.5, respectively. Tungsten metal would not classify under either the UN GHS or EU CLP schemes nor would the WS2. The WCs were the least reactive in terms of the 1% or less dissolution of the contained W at pH 6. A critical surface area for WC was calculated. The sodium tungstate, APT and the AMT all yielded, at pH 8.5, total dissolved W concentrations that would result in UN GHS Acute 3‐Chronic 3 classifications. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:498–508. © 2018 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management © 2018 SETAC
Tailings dust characterization and impacts on surface water chemistry at an abandoned Zn-Pb-Cu-Au-Ag deposit
Abstract The increased potential for dust mobilization as a result of climate change indicates a need to better understand interactions between dust and water. This research investigates the geochemical effects of tailings dust on surface waters near Stirling mine, Nova Scotia. Tailings were sieved to
A critical surface area concept for acute hazard classification of relatively insoluble metal‐containing powders in aquatic environments
A method is proposed for determining the hazard identification, based on acute aquatic toxicity, and subsequent classification if necessary, of metals and sparingly soluble inorganic metal compounds. The method is based on establishing a relationship between the measured reaction kinetics of the substance with an aqueous medium and the measured surface area of the substance loaded to the medium. The total dissolved metal concentration at a given time expressed as a function of measured surface area is then compared with an appropriate acute toxicity value, the median lethal effective concentration (L(E)C50), as measured in standard toxicity tests with the corresponding soluble metal salt to yield a critical surface area independent of particle size that will deliver the L(E)C50 to the medium. The critical surface area can then be converted to the conventional 100, 10, and 1 mg/L cutoff points to calculate a hazard identification line that can be used straightforwardly thereafter to establish the hazard classification of any form of the substance once its specific surface area is measured. Further transformation testing of the forms that the substance may be produced in is not required. The application of the critical surface area method to determine the hazard classification according to specific surface area is illustrated by worked examples for nickel metal and zinc metal. Selection of appropriate L(E)C50 values is critical, because different values can substantially change the final classification.