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Mercury, copper and zinc contamination in soils and fluvial sediments from an abandoned gold mining area in southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil

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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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Environmental Foundation of Minas Gerais State (FEAM) and the Centre for Nuclear Technology Development (CDTN), especially Dr. Peter Fleming and Dr. Otávio Branco, for their help during the sampling campaigns. We also thank the geographers Ricardo Sierpe Silva and Nilo Teixeira for confectioning the sampling points map. Ricardo Cesar was supported by a scholarship program for graduate students from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Without such financial help, this work could not be executed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia Aplicado à Indústria Mínero-Metalúrgica, Serviço de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Centro de Tecnologia Mineral, CETEM/MCT, Av. Pedro Calmon, 900. Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ricardo Cesar, Silvia Egler, Zuleica Castilhos & Ana Paula Rodrigues

  2. Departamento de Geologia, Setor de Geologia de Engenharia e Ambiental, CCMN-Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274-Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ricardo Cesar & Helena Polivanov

  3. Departamento de Geoquímica Ambiental, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal Fluminense, UFF, Outeiro São João Baptista, s/n. Centro, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ana Paula Rodrigues

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  1. Ricardo Cesar
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  2. Silvia Egler
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  4. Zuleica Castilhos
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  5. Ana Paula Rodrigues
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Correspondence to Ricardo Cesar.

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Cesar, R., Egler, S., Polivanov, H. et al. Mercury, copper and zinc contamination in soils and fluvial sediments from an abandoned gold mining area in southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Environ Earth Sci 64, 211–222 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0840-8

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