Alteration of availability of heavy metals to aquatic microflora by complexation with organics associated with oil shale development

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5328514

Mok, B S; Messer, J J

Oil shale process waters and leachates were examined to determine their propensity to complex with heavy metals and create environmentally harmful soluble toxic substances. Leachates from both raw (unretorted) and Paraho retorted oil shale showed the ability to bind copper, and perhaps cadmium, strongly enough to mitigate the normally inhibitory effects of these metals on the growth of the test alga, Selenastrum capricornutum. The nature of the copper complexation by the oil shale leachate organics suggests the binding of this metal by natural humic and fulvic acids in aquatic systems. The complexation does not appear to be caused by the low-molecular weight ring-N compounds characteristic of retort water. Oil shale leachates are thus only likely to increase copper and cadmium binding and transport significantly in waters whose total organic carbon concentration exceeds that contributed by natural humic and fulvic materials.

• Research Organization: Utah State Univ., Logan (USA). Utah Water Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 5328514
• Report Number(s): PB-83-265132
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
041000 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Environmental Aspects
520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560302 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Microorganisms-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALGAE
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DETOXIFICATION
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HUMIC ACIDS
LEACHING
LIGANDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
METALS
OIL SHALES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSIOLOGY
PLANTS
POLLUTION
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TOXICITY
VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS
WATER POLLUTION