Goodman A.J. et al (2026). Multi-method fingerprinting of airborne arsenic emissions from a copper smelter

A new scientific article was published in July 2026 by Aaron J. Goodman, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Montreal. This study was conducted under the supervision of Professors Patrick L. Hayes and Kevin J. Wilkinson and in collaboration with Trystan Gagné, Emmet Norris, and Houssame-Eddine Ahabchane of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Montreal, as well as Filip Kasprowicz of the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines.

This study advances the characterization of airborne arsenic (As) emissions from the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda. During two sampling campaigns, 155 aerosol samples were collected using two Coriolis-m air samplers operated in parallel with high time resolution (every 8 minutes). Differences in As concentrations and As particle chemistries were determined at targeted locations, including inside the smelting reactor building and along the copper concentrate trucking route. These environments were sampled to determine the signature of As from the two most likely sources of emission: wind-blown copper concentrate from the smelter grounds and volatilized and recondensed As from the smelting process. The chemistry and mineralogy of individual As-bearing particles were determined. These single particle techniques validated our hypothesis regarding the use of the trace elements antimony (Sb), indium (In) and bismuth (Bi) in order to fingerprint particle origin. Using a combination of bulk and single particle fingerprinting strategies, we determined that the majority of the As measured off site was likely to have originated from the smelting process rather than from resuspended smelter inputs.

Full citation:

Goodman, Aaron J, Trystan Gagné, Emmet Norris, Houssame-Eddine Ahabchane, Filip Kasprowicz, Patrick L Hayes, et Kevin J Wilkinson. 2026. « Multi-method fingerprinting of airborne arsenic emissions from a copper smelter ». Environmental Science: Atmospheres. https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ea00056h.