LCA of Disposal Practices for Arsenic-Bearing Iron Oxides Reveals the Need for Advanced Arsenic Recovery.

ABSTRACT: Iron (Fe)-based groundwater treatment removes carcinogenic arsenic (As) effectively but generates toxic As-rich Fe oxide water treatment residuals (As WTRs) that must be managed appropriately to prevent environmental contamination. In this study, we apply life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the toxicity impacts of four common As WTR disposal strategies that have different infrastructure requirements and waste control: (i) landfilling, (ii) brick stabilization, (iii) mixture with organic waste, and (iv) open disposal. The As disposal toxicity impacts (functional unit = 1.0 kg As) are compared and benchmarked against impacts of current methods to produce marketable As compounds via As mining and concentrate processing. Landfilling had the lowest non-carcinogen toxicity (2.0 × 10^-3

SUBMITTER: van Genuchten CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9536309 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature