Commonwealth of Australia 2010
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Commonwealth of Australia 2010 ISBN 978-0-9807221-0-9 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca PrefaceThis assessment was carried out under the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS). This Scheme was established by the Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Act 1989 (Cwlth) (the Act), which came into operation on 17 July 1990. The principal aim of NICNAS is to aid in the protection of people at work, the public and the environment from the harmful effects of industrial chemicals. NICNAS assessments are carried out in conjunction with the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), which carries out the environmental assessments for NICNAS. This assessment is specifically focused only on the assessment of risks to the environment. NICNAS has two major programs: the assessment of the health and environmental effects of new industrial chemicals prior to importation or manufacture; and the other focussing on the assessment of chemicals already in use in Australia in response to specific concerns about their health or environmental effects. There is an established mechanism within NICNAS for prioritising and assessing the many thousands of existing chemicals in use in Australia. Chemicals selected for assessment are referred to as Priority Existing Chemicals. This Priority Existing Chemical report has been prepared by the Director, NICNAS, in accordance with the Act. Under the Act manufacturers and importers of Priority Existing Chemicals are required to apply for assessment. Applicants for assessment are given a draft copy of the report and 28 days to advise the Director of any errors. Following the correction of any errors, the Director provides applicants and other interested parties with a copy of the draft assessment report for consideration. This is a period of public comment lasting for 28 days during which requests for variation of the report may be made. Where variations are requested the Director’s decision concerning each request is made available to each respondent and to other interested parties (for a further period of 28 days). Notices in relation to public comment and decisions made appear in the Commonwealth Chemical Gazette. A person may apply (within 28 days) to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for review of decision(s) where the Director has refused to vary the draft report as requested. In accordance with the Act, publication of this report revokes the declaration of this chemical as a priority existing chemical, therefore manufacturers and importers wishing to introduce this chemical in the future need not apply for assessment. However, manufacturers and importers need to be aware of their duty to provide any new information to NICNAS, as required under Section 64 of the Act. For the purposes of Section 78(1) of the Act, copies of assessment reports for New and Existing Chemical assessments are freely available from the web (www.nicnas.gov.au). Summary Reports are published in the Commonwealth Chemical Gazette (http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Publications/Chemical_Gazette.asp). Copies of this and other priority existing chemical reports are available on the NICNAS website. Hard copies are available from NICNAS from the following address:
More information on NICNAS can be found at the NICNAS web site: http://www.nicnas.gov.au
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au Contents
Preface 3 Overview 6 Recommendations 13 Secondary Notification 29 Acronyms and Abbreviations 30 List of Tables 34 List of Figures 35 1.Introduction 37 1.1Declaration 37 1.2Objectives of the assessment 37 1.3Sources of information 37 1.4Peer review 38 1.5Applicants 39 2.Background 41 2.1International perspective 41 2.1.1International assessments 42 2.2Australian perspective 42 3.Chemical Identity and Composition 43 3.1Chemical identity 43 3.1.1Chemical name 43 3.1.2Registry numbers 43 3.1.3Other names 43 3.1.4Molecular formula and structure 43 3.2Physical and chemical properties 43 3.2.1Physical state 43 3.2.2Physical properties 44 Table 3. . Physical properties of sodium cyanide (NaCN) 44 3.2.3Chemical properties 46 Table 3. Selected common metal-cyanide complexes and compounds 46 3.2.4Conversion factors 47 Table 3.. Conversion factors 47 3.3Methods of analysis 47 3.3.1Analysis of cyanide compounds 47 3.3.2Atmospheric monitoring 50 3.3.3Biological monitoring 51 4.Manufacture, Importation and Use 52 4.1Sodium cyanide in Australia 52 4.2Manufacture, formulation and transport 52 4.2.1Manufacture 52 4.2.2Formulation and transport of products 53 Table 4.. Typical constituents of formulated solid sodium cyanide 53 Table 4.. Typical constituents of liquid sodium cyanide 54 5.1Imports and exports 54 5.2Uses of sodium cyanide in Australia 55 5.2.1Overall range of uses 55 5.2.2Gold ore beneficiation and processing 56 8.Sources of Environmental Exposure 67 8.1Environmental release of cyanides generally 67 8.1.1Natural sources of cyanide 67 14.1.1Anthropogenic sources of cyanide 69 14.1.2National emissions of cyanide (National Pollutant Inventory) 70 17.1Release from sodium cyanide manufacture and industrial use 74 17.1.1General comments 74 17.1.2Sodium cyanide manufacturing facilities 74 17.1.3Cyanide use in gold beneficiation and recovery 75 Table 5.. Tailings, TSF pore water (0-2.0 m), decant and reclaim water concentrations (mg/L) of cyanate, thiocyanate and cyanide forms (after Staunton, 1991 b-d) 78 19.1.1Flotation use in base metal ore processing 80 19.1.2Electroplating, metal cleaning and metal surface treatment 82 22.1.1Other uses 84 22.2Release via sewerage plant effluent 84 22.3Release as a result of unintentional incidents 85 22.3.1Manufacturing facilities 85 22.3.2Transportation 85 Table 5.. Environmental incidents that have occurred with cyanide during transport 88 22.3.3Use and disposal at gold or other mineral processing facilities 91 Table 5.. Environmental incidents involving cyanide at gold ore processing facilities or heap leach operations 92 22.4Summary of sources of environmental exposure 99 23.Environmental Fate 102 23.1Overview of fate of sodium cyanide 102 23.2General degradation pathways 102 23.3Environmental transport and distribution 104 23.3.1Free cyanide 104 23.3.2Volatilisation of HCN 104 23.3.3Atmospheric fate of HCN 105 23.3.4Complexation 107 23.3.5Adsorption and mobility in soil 107 Table 6.. Composition of leachate and % attenuation of applied cyanide in soil columns in laboratory tests (from Staunton, 1991c). 108 23.3.6Cyanide complex precipitation 109 23.4Abiotic degradation 109 23.4.1Hydrolysis 109 23.4.2Photolysis 109 23.4.3Formation of cyanates and other products 110 23.4.4Thiocyanate formation 110 23.5Biotic degradation 110 23.5.1Aerobic conditions 110 23.5.2Anaerobic conditions 111 23.6Fate of cyanide in tailings storage facilities 111 23.6.1Tailings constituents 111 Table 6.. Microbial cyanide degradation pathways (adapted from Meehan, 2000) 111 23.6.2Processes for detoxifying or recovering cyanide in tailings 113 23.6.3Transformation in TSFs and migration 114 23.6.4Fate modelling and monitoring data 116 26.1Fate of cyanide in heap leach ore heaps 119 26.1.1Changes in concentration and composition 119 Table 6.. Cyanide products (mg/L) in drainage from an inactive ore heap 120 26.1.2Migration in seepage from heap leach operations 121 26.2Fate of cyanide in landfills 121 26.3Fate of cyanide in sewerage systems 121 26.4Summary of environmental fate 122 27.Environmental Exposure Assessment 124 27.1Exposure at manufacturing facilities 124 27.2Exposure during transport 125 27.3Exposure during use for gold beneficiation and recovery 126 27.3.1Wildlife in the vicinity of TSFs and mine infrastructure 126 27.3.2Recent wildlife interaction studies in arid/semi-arid areas of Western Australia 129 27.3.3Exposure of wildlife at tank leach operations 131 29.1.1Exposure of wildlife at heap leach operations 134 29.1.2Exposure during release of HCN to the atmosphere 136 29.1.3Total exposure for wildlife from gold mining use 137 Table 7.. Potential cyanide concentrations in mine site process solutions and wastes 139 Table 7.. Summary of potential oral (drinking water) exposure to cyanide in mine site process solutions and wastes by wildlife (0.01-1.5 kg body weight) 142 30.1Exposure from flotation use in base metal ore processing 142 30.2Exposure from electroplating, metal cleaning and metal surface treatment 142 30.3Summary of environmental exposure assessment 142 31.Kinetics and Metabolism in Animals 146 31.1Absorption 146 31.1.1Inhalation 146 31.1.2Oral 146 31.1.3Dermal 147 31.2Distribution and macromolecular binding 147 31.2.1Inhalation 147 31.2.2Oral 147 31.2.3Dermal 148 31.3Metabolism/biotransformation 148 31.4Elimination/Excretion 150 31.4.1Inhalation 150 31.4.2Oral 151 31.4.3Dermal 151 31.5Summary of kinetics and metabolism in animals 151 32.Environmental Hazard Assessment 152 1.1Mode of action of cyanide toxicity 152 1.2Effects on avian species 153 32.1.1Acute toxicity 153 Table 9.. Avian acute oral toxicity studies with sodium cyanide 158 34.1.1Repeat dose/dietary toxicity 165 Table 9.. Sublethal acute oral avian toxicity studies with potassium cyanide 167 Table 9.. Avian water exposure cyanide toxicity studies 172 35.1.1Toxicologically significant forms of cyanide to birds 174 Table 9.. Estimated LC50 values for NaCN to various bird species, based on LD50 data and median bird bodyweights in the corresponding studies 175 1.3Effects on mammalian species 176 35.1.2Acute toxicity 176 Table 9.. Acute inhalation toxicity studies with hydrogen cyanide and mammals 178 Table 9.. Acute oral toxicity to mammals of sodium cyanide, potassium cyanide and hydrogen cyanide 181 41.1.1Repeat dose toxicity 184 Table 9.. Summary of repeat-dose inhalation toxicity 186 Table 9.. Summary of repeat-dose oral toxicity 190 44.1.1Mutagenicity 197 46.1.1Carcinogenicity 198 46.1.2Fertility 198 46.1.3Developmental toxicity 199 1.4Effects on terrestrial plants 200 1.5Effects on terrestrial arthropods 202 1.6Effects on micro-organisms 203 1.7Effects on aquatic organisms 204 50.1.1Freshwater aquatic toxicity data 204 50.1.2Marine aquatic toxicity data 204 Table 9.. Summary of selected freshwater aquatic toxicity data for cyanide 205 Table 9.. Summary of selected marine aquatic toxicity data for cyanide 207 50.1.3Chronic effects on fish and invertebrates 210 Table 9.. Symptoms of cyanide exposure in freshwater fish 210 50.1.4Factors affecting the aquatic toxicity of cyanide 211 Table 9.. Aquatic toxicity (LC50) to fish of metal-cyanide complexes and compounds and cyanide breakdown products 213 Table 9.. Comparison of toxicity data (96-h LC50 or 72-h EC50) for free and complexed cyanide (mg/L) to two Australian fish species, one marine microalga and one marine mollusc 214 1.8Toxicity reference values (TRVs) 215 55.1.1The TRV approach and summary of the TRVs determined 215 Table 9.. Derived mammalian, avian and aquatic TRVs for cyanide 215 Table 9.. NOAEL-based AFs for use in deriving wildlife TRVs 216 55.1.2Selection of Toxicity Reference Values (TRVs) 217 1.9Field observations of terrestrial and aerial wildlife mortality at gold processing facilities 220 59.1.1International data on wildlife impacts 220 Table 9.. Selected incidences of wildlife mortality from cyanide at Nevada Gold Mine TSFs (1986 to 1991) 221 59.1.2Wildlife poisoning incidents in Australia 224 Table 9.. Avian incidents at TSF and heap leach areas at five gold mines in the Top End of the Northern Territory based on a survey by ERA Environmental Services (1995). 227 63.1.1Issues regarding monitoring of wildlife at TSFs 232 63.1.2Toxicity of other tailings components 233 1.10Summary of environmental hazard assessment 234 64.Environmental Risk Characterisation 238 1.11Risks during manufacture and transport 238 64.1Risks to wildlife with use in gold mines 239 64.1.1Risk quotients for drinking water exposure based on laboratory data 239 Table 10.. Estimated risk quotients for birds (0.01-1.5 kg bw) potentially exposed to cyanide solutions 240 Table 10.. Estimated risk quotients for mammals (0.01-1.5 kg bw) potentially exposed to cyanide solutions 242 66.1.1Other factors influencing the risk to wildlife 242 66.1.2Risk to wildlife based on field data 243 70.1Risks to aquatic life 246 70.2Risks to vegetation 247 70.3Risks to wildlife with use for flotation 248 70.4Risks from industrial uses 248 70.5Summary of risk characterisation 248 71.Current Environmental Risk Management 251 71.1General environmental controls and monitoring 251 71.2Major hazard facilities (MHF) 252 71.3Dangerous goods management 253 71.3.1Storage and handling of dangerous goods 253 73.1.1Transportation of dangerous goods 254 76.1.1Packaging specifications for dangerous goods 257 76.1.2Complementary state/territory legislation 258 Table 11.. Primary dangerous goods legislation and guidance 258 76.1.3Procurement of sodium cyanide 259 76.2Hazard communication 260 76.2.1Labelling and hazard warning systems 260 76.2.2Material safety data sheets (MSDS) 260 78.1Emissions management and monitoring 262 78.1.1Pollution management 262 Table 11.. Primary environment protection legislation for pollution management 262 78.1.2National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) Program 263 78.2Prevention of environmental contamination 263 78.2.1General framework 263 78.2.2Groundwater management 264 78.2.3TSF management 265 81.1Heap leach operation and management 269 Table 11.. Summary of key concerns of heap pads and heaps 269 81.2Cyanide waste management 270 81.2.1International requirements for cyanide waste management 270 81.2.2Sea dumping of cyanide wastes 271 81.2.3Trans-national waste movement 272 81.2.4States and territories waste management 272 Table 11.. Primary state and territory waste management legislation and guidance 273 81.3Environmental media quality guidelines for cyanide and products 274 81.3.1Water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life 274 Table 11.. Water quality guidelines for cyanide for aquatic ecosystem protection 275 81.3.2Guidelines for WAD CN or metallocyanide complexes 278 81.3.3Water quality monitoring 278 81.4Wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation 279 81.4.1Migratory waterbird conservation 279 84.1.1Australian wildlife protection legislation and policies 280 86.1.1Water quality guideline levels to protect wildlife 289 88.1Chemical manufacturing industry initiatives 290 88.1.1Manufacturing facility programs 290 88.1.2Responsible Care® program 290 88.2Mining, metal extraction and cyanide management 292 88.2.1General comments 292 88.2.2Sustainable development program for the mining industry 293 88.2.3Wildlife management at mining operations 293 88.2.4International Cyanide Management Code (ICMC) 294 88.3Practical measures to protect wildlife at gold mines 295 88.3.1Limiting access and the use of hazing techniques 295 89.1.1Reducing the attractiveness of facilities to wildlife 297 89.1.2Using a combined approach of controlling CN concentrations and minimising exposure 298 89.2Summary of current risk management 300 90.Conclusions 302 90.1Use in Australia 302 90.2Environmental exposure 302 90.3Environmental risk assessment 303 90.4Current risk management 305 Appendix 1 - Methods for analysing cyanide 308 Appendix 2 - Effect of Tailing Storage Facilities on Bird Species 313 Appendix 3 - Classification under the Globally Harmonized System 319 Appendix 4 -
References 325 INDEX
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