Complete removal of arsenic and zinc from a heavily contaminated acid mine drainage via an indigenous SRB consortium

[Display omitted] •SRB activity is evidenced at acidic pH in acid mine drainage water.•Total arsenic and zinc removal from solution is observed.•As, Zn and Fe are observed to precipitate as biogenic sulfides.•Amorphous orpiment (AsIII2S3) and realgar (AsIIS) are observed as main As-bearing sulfides....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hazardous materials 2017-01, Vol.321 (5), p.764-772
Main Authors: Le Pape, Pierre, Battaglia-Brunet, Fabienne, Parmentier, Marc, Joulian, Catherine, Gassaud, Cindy, Fernandez-Rojo, Lidia, Guigner, Jean-Michel, Ikogou, Maya, Stetten, Lucie, Olivi, Luca, Casiot, Corinne, Morin, Guillaume
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid mine drainage
Arsenic
Bacteria
Biogenic sulfides
Bioremediation
Consortia
Decontamination
Formations
Geophysics
Nanowires
Physics
Sulfate-reducing bacteria
Zinc
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Summary:[Display omitted] •SRB activity is evidenced at acidic pH in acid mine drainage water.•Total arsenic and zinc removal from solution is observed.•As, Zn and Fe are observed to precipitate as biogenic sulfides.•Amorphous orpiment (AsIII2S3) and realgar (AsIIS) are observed as main As-bearing sulfides.•A mechanism is proposed for the reduction of As2S3 to AsS by biogenic H2S under acidic conditions. Acid mine drainages (AMD) are major sources of pollution to the environment. Passive bio-remediation technologies involving sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are promising for treating arsenic contaminated waters. However, mechanisms of biogenic As-sulfide formation need to be better understood to decontaminate AMDs in acidic conditions. Here, we show that a high-As AMD effluent can be decontaminated by an indigenous SRB consortium. AMD water from the Carnoulès mine (Gard, France) was incubated with the consortium under anoxic conditions and As, Zn and Fe concentrations, pH and microbial activity were monitored during 94days. Precipitated solids were analyzed using electron microscopy (SEM/TEM-EDXS), and Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy at the As K-edge. Total removal of arsenic and zinc from solution (1.06 and 0.23mmol/L, respectively) was observed in two of the triplicates. While Zn precipitated as ZnS nanoparticles, As precipitated as amorphous orpiment (am-AsIII2S3) (33–73%), and realgar (AsIIS) (0–34%), the latter phase exhibiting a particular nanowire morphology. A minor fraction of As is also found as thiol-bound AsIII (14–23%). We propose that the formation of the AsIIS nanowires results from AsIII2S3 reduction by biogenic H2S, enhancing the efficiency of As removal. The present description of As immobilization may help to set the basis for bioremediation strategies using SRB.
ISSN:0304-3894
1873-3336
DOI:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.09.060