Analysis of distribution and environmental assessment of antimony in collapse lake waters of Huaibei mining areas

Antimony is a hazardous trace heavy metal with wide distributions. It is chronically toxic and potentially carcinogenic to the human body. Water samples were collected from the collapse lakes of three mines and a background water body in Huaibei mining areas in different periods, and at depths of 20 cm, 50 cm and 80 cm. The samples were determined by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry(HGAFS). The results show that the concentration distributions of antimony are significantly different in diverse water bodies of collapse lakes, which might be related to such factors as length of collapse time and distance to the gangue pile. The vertical distribution of antimony concentrations in the same collapse lake is characterized by slowly increased concentration from the surface to the deep.Based on the single-factor contaminant index and the environmental quality standards for surface water, an environmental assessment of antimony contamination in the collapse lakes was conducted to provide references for the comprehensive utilization of water.