Abstract
Tungsten and most of its compounds remain one of the least regulated substances. As the potential toxicity of tungsten has been reported, the stereotypes about tungsten are gradually being broken. Areas with intense magmatic hydrothermal activity are likely threatened by geothermal tungsten (up to 1037 μg/L of tungsten was detected in the geothermal waters from a magmatic hydrothermal system in Tibet, Daggyai), and the geothermal developers should be cautious during the utilization of geothermal resource. This paper reviews the studies on transformation of aqueous tungsten species, distribution of tungsten in geothermal waters, and critical geochemical processes (or parameters) controlling geothermal tungsten concentrations. The mobility of aqueous tungsten depends on environmental pH, its complexation with sulfide, and its sorption onto Fe(III) oxides/oxyhydroxides. More attention still needs to be paid to environmental geochemistry of tungsten, in view that there are limited literatures reporting the thermodynamic properties of tungsten compounds at high temperatures and the models delineating the geochemical behavior of tungsten.
Highlights
Tungsten is a transition metal found in Group VI of the Periodic Table of elements, and was considered as an environmentally benign element from a historical view
The childhood leukemia cluster afflicting Nevada, along with two analogous toxicological profiles appeared in Arizona and California (USA), stimulated tungsten-related studies that the environmental exposure to elevated tungsten concentrations may be responsible for these childhood leukemia clusters
Background values of Win natural waters are in trace amounts unless W is deposited or influenced by anthropogenic activities
Summary
Tungsten is a transition metal found in Group VI of the Periodic Table of elements, and was considered as an environmentally benign element from a historical view. The childhood leukemia cluster afflicting Nevada, along with two analogous toxicological profiles appeared in Arizona and California (USA), stimulated tungsten-related studies that the environmental exposure to elevated tungsten concentrations may be responsible for these childhood leukemia clusters. Animal studies in laboratory have shown that tungsten can be toxic and may be carcinogenic [1,2,3]. Of the various sources of tungsten in the environment, the geothermal fluids are often enriched in tungsten and geothermal activities make its fate and transport more complicated. Compared with other hazardous constituents in geothermal water, the rules of tungsten mobilization and transformation are ambiguous, which should be paid more attention to during the utilization of geothermal resources. This review attempts to summarize the existing literature on the occurrence and environmental behavior and estimate the factors controlling tungsten concentrations in geothermal water
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