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Low adsorption affinity of athabasca oil sands naphthenic acid fraction compounds to a peat-mineral mixture

dc.contributor.authorMeulen, Ian J. Vander
dc.contributor.authorSteiger, Bernd G.K.
dc.contributor.authorAsadi, Mohsen
dc.contributor.authorPeru, Kerry M.
dc.contributor.authorDegenhardt, Dani
dc.contributor.authorMcMartin, Dena W.
dc.contributor.authorMcPhedran, Kerry M.
dc.contributor.authorWilson, Lee D.
dc.contributor.authorHeadley, John V.
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-17T07:22:51Z
dc.date.available2024-09-17T07:22:51Z
dc.date.issued2024-04-24
dc.description0045-6535/Crown Copyright © 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
dc.description.abstractMuch of the toxicity in oil sands process-affected water in Athabasca oil sands tailings has been attributed to naphthenic acids (NAs) and associated naphthenic acid fraction compounds (NAFCs). Previous work has characterized the environmental behaviour and fate of these compounds, particularly in the context of constructed treatment wetlands. There is evidence that wetlands can attenuate NAFCs in natural and engineered contexts, but relative contributions of chemical, biotic, and physical adsorption with sequestration require deconvolution. In this work, the objective was to evaluate the extent to which prospective wetland substrate material may adsorb NAFCs using a peat-mineral mix (PMM) sourced from the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR). The PMM and NAFCs were first mixed and then equilibrated across a range of NAFC concentrations (5–500 mg/L) with moderate ionic strength and hardness (∼200 ppm combined Ca2+ and Mg2+) that approximate wetland water chemistry. Under these experimental conditions, low sorption of NAFCs to PMM was observed, where sorbed concentrations of NAFCs were approximately zero mg/kg at equilibrium. When NAFCs and PMM were mixed and equilibrated together at environmentally relevant concentrations, formula diversity increased more than could be explained by combining constituent spectra. The TOC present in this PMM was largely cellulose-derived, with low levels of thermally recalcitrant carbon (e.g., lignin, black carbon). The apparent enhancement of the concentration and diversity of components in PMM/NAFCs mixtures are likely related to aqueous solubility of some PMM-derived organic materials, as post-hoc combination of dissolved components from PMM and NAFCs cannot replicate enhanced complexity observed when the two components are agitated and equilibrated together.
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Research and Development through the Energy Innovation Program (CFS-23-104)
dc.description.versionPeer Reviewed
dc.identifier.citationVander Meulen, I. J., Steiger, B. G. K., Asadi, M., Peru, K. M., Degenhardt, D., McMartin, D. W., McPhedran, K. N., Wilson, L. D., & Headley, J. V. (2024). Low adsorption affinity of athabasca oil sands naphthenic acid fraction compounds to a peat-mineral mixture. Chemosphere, 358, 142076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142076
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142076
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10388/16036
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rightsAttribution 2.5 Canadaen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ca/
dc.subjectOil sands
dc.subjectNon-targeted analysis
dc.subjectMass spectrometry
dc.subjectAquatic contaminants
dc.subjectPartitioning
dc.titleLow adsorption affinity of athabasca oil sands naphthenic acid fraction compounds to a peat-mineral mixture
dc.typeArticle

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