Title:
Tracing Germanium Contamination from Coal-fired Power Plants Down the Chattahoochee-Apalachicola System: Implications for the Toxic Metalloids Arsenic and Selenium
Tracing Germanium Contamination from Coal-fired Power Plants Down the Chattahoochee-Apalachicola System: Implications for the Toxic Metalloids Arsenic and Selenium
Author(s)
Froelich, Philip N.
Lesley, Patrick
Lesley, Patrick
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
Dissolved germanium (Ge)
concentrations in rivers receiving ash pond effluents
from coal-fired power plants (CFPP) in the
Southeastern U.S. are enriched up to two orders of
magnitude above natural levels. This anthropogenic
Ge-signal has a large dynamic range that provides a
unique "coal-fired" tracer that may be a harbinger for
the other toxic metalloids As, Se and Sb. The average
point-source Ge-escape factor for all river-CFPP
systems for which we have coal flows is about 0.1
mg-Ge per kg-coal combusted. Scaling this Ge-escape
factor to the coal ash systematics of other metalloids
suggests several of Georgia's river systems may be
approaching toxic levels, especially for Se.
Sponsor
Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date Issued
2001-03
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings