Mercury, copper and zinc contamination in soils and fluvial sediments from an abandoned gold mining area in southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil |
| |
| Authors: | Ricardo Cesar Silvia Egler Helena Polivanov Zuleica Castilhos and Ana Paula Rodrigues |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Laborat?rio de Ecotoxicologia Aplicado ? Ind?stria M?nero-Metal?rgica, Servi?o de Desenvolvimento Sustent?vel, Centro de Tecnologia Mineral, CETEM/MCT, Av. Pedro Calmon, 900. Cidade Universit?ria, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;(2) Departamento de Geologia, Setor de Geologia de Engenharia e Ambiental, CCMN-Instituto de Geoci?ncias, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274-Cidade Universit?ria, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;(3) Departamento de Geoqu?mica Ambiental, Instituto de Qu?mica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, UFF, Outeiro S?o Jo?o Baptista, s/n. Centro, Niter?i, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil |
| |
| Abstract: | Mercury, zinc and copper contamination was evaluated in soils and fluvial sediments from an abandoned gold mining site at
Descoberto Municipality (southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil). Metals bioavailability and potential mobility were studied
through physical, chemical and mineralogical characterization, geoaccumulation indexes calculations, mercury speciation and
determination of potentially bioavailable contents of zinc and copper. Values of pH were in the neutral range, while organic
matter concentrations were very low. Mineralogical characterization, in the total samples, indicated the presence of quartz,
kaolinite and gibbsite for all samples. Total mercury, zinc and cooper concentrations were higher than the limits recommended
by Brazilian documents. Geoaccumulations indexes revealed that most of the sediment samples were low to moderately polluted
by zinc and copper, while just one sample was very strongly polluted by mercury. Mercury speciation revealed the predominance
of the elementary form for all samples, and low concentrations for exchangeable, strongly bound and residual fractions. Zinc
and copper behavior was strongly controlled by iron and aluminum concentrations, while their bioavailable contents were very
low in comparison with the total concentrations. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
