Levels and environmental risks of rare earth elements in a gold mining area in the Amazon.

Autor: Pereira WVDS; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, 66077-830, Belém, Pará, Brazil. Electronic address: wendel.valter@ufra.edu.br., Ramos SJ; Vale Institute of Technology - Sustainable Development, 66055-090, Belém, Pará, Brazil., Melo LCA; Department of Soil Science, School of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Lavras, 37200-900, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil., Braz AMS; Area of Geosciences, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, 68700-665, Capanema, Pará, Brazil., Dias YN; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, 66077-830, Belém, Pará, Brazil., Almeida GV; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, 66077-830, Belém, Pará, Brazil., Fernandes AR; Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal Rural University of the Amazon, 66077-830, Belém, Pará, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental research [Environ Res] 2022 Aug; Vol. 211, pp. 113090. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Mar 09.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113090
Abstrakt: Artisanal gold (Au) mining may have increased the concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) in the Serra Pelada mine (southeastern Amazon, Brazil), which has not been evaluated so far. The objectives of this study were to determine the concentrations of cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y) in the surroundings of the Serra Pelada mine, as well as the environmental risks associated with these elements. Therefore, 27 samples were collected in agricultural, forest, mining, and urban areas, and submitted to chemical and particle size characterization. The concentrations of REEs were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and used to estimate pollution indices and environmental risks of the studied elements. All REEs had higher levels in the anthropized areas when compared to the forest area, except Sc in the mining and urban areas. Pollution load indices revealed that all areas are contaminated (>1) by the combined effect of REEs, especially the agricultural areas (index of 2.3). The element of greatest enrichment in the studied areas was Y, with enrichment factors of 18.2, 39.0, and 44.4 in the urban, agriculture, and mining areas, respectively. However, the potential ecological risk indices were low (<150) in all areas, indicating that there are no current environmental risks by the studied REEs.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: