IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i5p4291-d1082996.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Arsenic in Mining Areas: Environmental Contamination Routes

Author

Listed:
  • Márcia Cristina da Silva Faria

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Rodrigo de Carvalho Hott

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Maicon Junior dos Santos

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Mayra Soares Santos

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Thainá Gusmão Andrade

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Cleide Aparecida Bomfeti

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

  • Bruno Alves Rocha

    (Analytical and System Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Analyses, Toxicology and Food Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto 14040-903, SP, Brazil)

  • Fernando Barbosa

    (Analytical and System Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Clinical Analyses, Toxicology and Food Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto 14040-903, SP, Brazil)

  • Jairo Lisboa Rodrigues

    (Instituto de Ciência, Engenharia e Tecnologia (ICET), Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Teófilo Otoni 39803-371, MG, Brazil)

Abstract

The emission and accumulation of toxic elements such as arsenic in various environmental compartments have become increasingly frequent primarily due to anthropogenic actions such as those observed in agricultural, industrial, and mining activities. An example of environmental arsenic contamination in Brazil exists in the city of Paracatu, MG, due to the operation of a gold mine. The aim of this work is to evaluate the routes and effects of arsenic contamination in environmental compartments (air, water, and soil) and environmental organisms (fish and vegetables) from mining regions as well as the trophic transfer of the element for a risk assessment of the population. In this study, high levels of arsenic were found in the waters of the Rico stream ranging from 4.05 µg/L during the summer season to 72.4 µg/L during the winter season. Moreover, the highest As concentration was 1.668 mg kg ?1 in soil samples, which are influenced by seasonal variation and by proximity to the gold mine. Inorganic and organic arsenic species were found above the allowed limit in biological samples, indicating the transfer of arsenic found in the environment and demonstrating a great risk to the population exposed to this area. This study demonstrates the importance of environmental monitoring to diagnose contamination and encourage the search for new interventions and risk assessments for the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Márcia Cristina da Silva Faria & Rodrigo de Carvalho Hott & Maicon Junior dos Santos & Mayra Soares Santos & Thainá Gusmão Andrade & Cleide Aparecida Bomfeti & Bruno Alves Rocha & Fernando Barbosa & J, 2023. "Arsenic in Mining Areas: Environmental Contamination Routes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4291-:d:1082996
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4291/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4291/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesca Faita & Liliana Cori & Fabrizio Bianchi & Maria Grazia Andreassi, 2013. "Arsenic-Induced Genotoxicity and Genetic Susceptibility to Arsenic-Related Pathologies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mayra Soares Santos & Amanda Oliveira Mourão & Thuanny Souza Xavier Santos & Mariandry del Valle Rodriguez Rodriguez & Márcia Cristina da Silva Faria & Elton Santos Franco & Núbia Aparecida de Aguilar, 2025. "Removal of Emerging Contaminants (Endocrine Disruptors) Using a Photocatalyst and Detection by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(3), pages 1-16, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ghulam Abbas & Behzad Murtaza & Irshad Bibi & Muhammad Shahid & Nabeel Khan Niazi & Muhammad Imran Khan & Muhammad Amjad & Munawar Hussain & Natasha, 2018. "Arsenic Uptake, Toxicity, Detoxification, and Speciation in Plants: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Aspects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-45, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4291-:d:1082996. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.