Heavy Metal Enrichment Factors in Fluvial Sediments of an Amazonian Basin Impacted by Gold Mining
| Autor: | Pablo Alvarez-Figueroa, Jürgen Mahlknecht, Diana Jumbo-Flores, Arturo Hernández-Antonio, Max González-Merizalde, Santos Amable Bermeo-Flores, Abrahan Mora |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Geologic Sediments
Gold mining Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Amazonian Drainage basin Geochemistry Fluvial 010501 environmental sciences Structural basin Toxicology 01 natural sciences Mining Rivers Metals Heavy Ecotoxicology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences geography geography.geographical_feature_category Amazon rainforest business.industry 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences General Medicine South America Contamination Pollution 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Environmental science Gold business Water Pollutants Chemical Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 102:210-217 |
| ISSN: | 1432-0800 0007-4861 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00128-019-02545-w |
| Popis: | Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has been performed in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon since the colonial period. However, its effects on fluvial systems have been poorly investigated. Thus, in order to calculate the normalized enrichment factors (NEF) of several heavy metals in fluvial sediments of the Zamora River basin (Ecuadorian Amazon), we analyzed bottom sediments along ASGM-affected and unaffected river sections. The results indicated that sediments of the Conguime River have NEF between 2.2 and 2.3 for Cu (moderate contamination) and higher than 3 for Mn, Zn, Pb, and Hg (severe contamination). Similarly, a severe contamination is also observed in the lower Nangaritza River, due to sediments of this sector have NEF > 3 for Zn, Pb, and Hg. Bottom sediments from the Nambija and Zamora rivers showed a severe contamination with Hg (NEF > 3), suggesting the existence of ASGM activities in the upper Zamora River basin. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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