Suspended particulate matter collection methods influence the quantification of polycyclic aromatic compounds in the river system.

In this study, we compared the influence of two different collection methods, filtration (FT) and continuous flow field centrifugation (CFC), on the concentration and the distribution of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in suspended particulate matter (SPM) occurring in river waters. SPM samples were collected simultaneously with FT and CFC from a river during six sampling campaigns over 2 years, covering different hydrological contexts. SPM samples were analyzed to determine the concentration of PACs including 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 11 oxygenated PACs (O-PACs), and 5 nitrogen PACs (N-PACs). Results showed significant differences between the two separation methods. In half of the sampling campaigns, PAC concentrations differed from a factor 2 to 30 comparing FT and CFC-collected SPMs. The PAC distributions were also affected by the separation method. FT-collected SPM were enriched in 2-3 ring PACs whereas CFC-collected SPM had PAC distributions dominated by medium to high molecular weight compounds typical of combustion processes. This could be explained by distinct cut-off threshold of the two separation methods and strongly suggested the retention of colloidal and/or fine matter on glass-fiber filters particularly enriched in low molecular PACs. These differences between FT and CFC were not systematic but rather enhanced by high water flow rates.

Iron mineralogy as a fingerprint of former steelmaking activities in river sediments.

Submerged sediment cores were collected upstream of a dam in the Orne River, northeastern France. This dam was built in the context of steelmaking to constitute a water reservoir for blast furnace cooling and wet cleaning of furnace smokes. The dam also enhanced sediment deposition in the upstream zone. This study was performed to unravel the contamination status of sediments and to evidence possible contribution sources. The sediment layers were analyzed for water content, grain size, chemical composition, crystalline phases at a bulk scale and poorly crystalline and amorphous phases at a sub-micrometer scale. Visual aspect, texture, color, and chemical and mineralogical analyses showed that the settled sediments were mainly composed of fine black matter, certainly comprising steelmaking by-products. Those materials were highly enriched with Fe, Zn, Pb and other trace metals, except for a relatively thin layer of surficial sediments that had settled more recently. Bulk mineralogy revealed crystalline iron minerals, such as magnetite, goethite, wuestite and pyrite, in the deep layers of the sediment cores. Furthermore, microscopic investigations evidenced the presence of ferrospheres, goethite nanoparticles and newly formed Fe-aluminosilicates; all originating from the former steelmaking facilities. The variation of iron mineralogy, combined with specific chemical profiles and other sediment features, demonstrate the different contributions that constitute the sediment deposit. Furthermore, chemical and mineralogical features of goethite and Fe-aluminosilicates could be used as a fingerprint for such contaminated sediments.

Identification of nickel chelators in three hyperaccumulating plants: an X-ray spectroscopic study.

We have investigated the accumulation of nickel in a hyperaccumulating plant from the Brassicacae family Leptoplax emarginata (Boiss.) O.E. Schulz. Two supplementary hyperaccumulating plants, which have been the subject of a high number of publications, Alyssum murale Waldst. & Kit and Thlaspi caerulescens J.&C. Presl, and a nonaccumulating species Aurinia saxatilis were also studied for reference. The plants were grown during 4 months in specific rhizoboxes with Ni-bearing minerals as a source of nickel. Nickel speciation was analyzed through X-ray absorption spectroscopy at Ni K-edge (X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy) in the different parts of the plants (leaves, stems and roots) and compared with aqueous solutions containing different organo-Ni(II) complexes. Carboxylic acids (citrate, malate) appeared as the main ligands responsible of nickel transfer within those plants. Citrate was found as the predominant ligand for Ni in stems of Leptoplax and Alyssum, whereas in leaves of the three plants, malate appeared as the chelating organic acid of accumulated metal. Histidine could not be detected either in leaves, stems nor roots of any studied plant sample.