Sources and Impacts of Selenium Contamination
5
ters 2 and 3), combine to make coal a highly hazardous source of selenium. There are serious implications for industrial waste management
and environmental safety. As society's need for electric power increases,
so does the volume of seleniferous coal wastes that are produced. In the
United States alone, over 120 million tons of fly ash are produced annually, and the disposal of this material is creating a new selenium issue
because of contaminated landfill leachate (see Chapter 9).
Episodes of selenium pollution associated with power production
wastes have taken place around the world (Table 1.2, Fig. 1.1), and
some of the most serious impacts to aquatic life have occurred as a
result of this type of selenium contamination. In the United States,
entire populations of reservoir fish have been eliminated due to selenium poisoning that resulted from power plant waste discharges (see
Chapter 3). Severe reproductive effects are the hallmark of chronic
selenium toxicity, and the insidious nature of these effects can make
TABLE 1.1. Concentrations of selenium present in raw material used by the
electric power industry, and in various wastes produced during processing and
utilization a •
Material or waste
Earth's crust
Surface waters
Coal
Coal-storage-pile leachate
Coal-cleaning-process water
Coal-cleaning solid waste
Coal-cleaning solid-waste leachate
Coal-burner ash (bottom ash)
Precipitator ash (fly ash)
Scrubber ash (fly ash)
Fly-ash leachate
Flue-gas desulfurization-process water
Flue-gas desulfurization sludge
Boiler-cleaning water
Coal-ash slurry
Ash-settling ponds
Ash-pond effluents
Ash-disposal-pit leachate
Coal-gasification-process water
Coal-gasification solid wastes
Gasification solid-waste leachate
Coal-liquifaction-process water
Coal-liquifaction solid wastes
aTable adapted from Lemly (1985).
bRepresentative values.
'Expressed on a dry weight basis.
dExpressed on a wet-weight basis.
Selenium concentration
0.2 Ilg/gb,'
0.2 Ilg/L b
0.4-24 Ilg/g'
1-30 Ilg/L
15-63 Ilg/L
2.3-31 Ilg/g'
2-570 Ilg/L
7.7 Ilg/g'
0.2-500 Ilg/g'
73-440 Ilg/g'
40-610 Ilg/L
1-2700 Ilg/L
0.2-19 Ilg/gd
5-151 Ilg/L
50-1500 Ilg/L
87-2700 Ilg/L
2-260 Ilg/L
40-950 Ilg/L
5-460 Ilg/L
0.7-17.5 Ilg/gd
0.8-100 Ilg/L
100-900 Ilg/L
2.1-22 Ilg/gd
5
ters 2 and 3), combine to make coal a highly hazardous source of selenium. There are serious implications for industrial waste management
and environmental safety. As society's need for electric power increases,
so does the volume of seleniferous coal wastes that are produced. In the
United States alone, over 120 million tons of fly ash are produced annually, and the disposal of this material is creating a new selenium issue
because of contaminated landfill leachate (see Chapter 9).
Episodes of selenium pollution associated with power production
wastes have taken place around the world (Table 1.2, Fig. 1.1), and
some of the most serious impacts to aquatic life have occurred as a
result of this type of selenium contamination. In the United States,
entire populations of reservoir fish have been eliminated due to selenium poisoning that resulted from power plant waste discharges (see
Chapter 3). Severe reproductive effects are the hallmark of chronic
selenium toxicity, and the insidious nature of these effects can make
TABLE 1.1. Concentrations of selenium present in raw material used by the
electric power industry, and in various wastes produced during processing and
utilization a •
Material or waste
Earth's crust
Surface waters
Coal
Coal-storage-pile leachate
Coal-cleaning-process water
Coal-cleaning solid waste
Coal-cleaning solid-waste leachate
Coal-burner ash (bottom ash)
Precipitator ash (fly ash)
Scrubber ash (fly ash)
Fly-ash leachate
Flue-gas desulfurization-process water
Flue-gas desulfurization sludge
Boiler-cleaning water
Coal-ash slurry
Ash-settling ponds
Ash-pond effluents
Ash-disposal-pit leachate
Coal-gasification-process water
Coal-gasification solid wastes
Gasification solid-waste leachate
Coal-liquifaction-process water
Coal-liquifaction solid wastes
aTable adapted from Lemly (1985).
bRepresentative values.
'Expressed on a dry weight basis.
dExpressed on a wet-weight basis.
Selenium concentration
0.2 Ilg/gb,'
0.2 Ilg/L b
0.4-24 Ilg/g'
1-30 Ilg/L
15-63 Ilg/L
2.3-31 Ilg/g'
2-570 Ilg/L
7.7 Ilg/g'
0.2-500 Ilg/g'
73-440 Ilg/g'
40-610 Ilg/L
1-2700 Ilg/L
0.2-19 Ilg/gd
5-151 Ilg/L
50-1500 Ilg/L
87-2700 Ilg/L
2-260 Ilg/L
40-950 Ilg/L
5-460 Ilg/L
0.7-17.5 Ilg/gd
0.8-100 Ilg/L
100-900 Ilg/L
2.1-22 Ilg/gd