Assessment of arsenic speciation and bioaccessibility in mine-impacted materials

Mine-impacted materials were collected from Victoria, Australia and categorized into three source materials; tailings (n = 35), calcinated (n = 10) and grey slimes (n = 5). Arsenic (As) concentrations in these materials varied over several orders of magnitude (30-47,000 mg kg−1), with median concentrations of 500, 10,800 and 1500 mg kg−1, respectively. When As bioaccessibility was assessed using the Solubility Bioaccessibility Research Consortium (SBRC) assay, As bioaccessibility ranged between 4 and 90%, with mean gastric phase values of 30%, 49% and 82% for tailings, calcinated and grey slimes, respectively. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) determined that As bioaccessibility was significantly different (P < 0.05) between source materials. This was due to differences in As mineralogy, soil particle size as well as the concentration and nature of Fe present. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) analysis identified arseniosiderite, yukonite, realgar, loellingite and mineral sorbed arsenate species in mine-impacted materials. Despite differences in physicochemical properties, 'mine wastes' are often reported under a generic descriptor. Outcomes from this research highlight that variability in As bioaccessibility can be prescribed to As mineralogy and matrix physicochemical properties, while categorizing samples into sub-groups can provide some notional indication of potential exposure.