Abstract
The objective of our study was to evaluate if there is heavy metal contamination in the water of rivers and irrigation canals of the Cotopaxi and Tungurahua provinces in Ecuador and assesing the health risk of this contamination in the neighboring population. To date no study has been done on contaminant health risk in Ecuador. For this purpose, 21 water samples collected along the Cutuchi, Pumacunchi and Ambato Rivers, the Latacunga-Salcedo-Ambato irrigation canal, tap water and water from a tannery were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The metals analyzed were Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Hg and As. At all points tested at least one of these metals surpassed the permissible limits under the Ecuadorian law or the Environmental Protection Agency. Cr had the highest level of toxicity, with critical values (8.3E + 03; 2.2E + 04; 1.8E + 06; 99.6, for non-carcinogenic risk; and 1.17; 0.63; 217.06, for carcinogenic risk) followed by Cd, Pb, As and Hg. Regarding health risk analyses, there was high risk, both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic, for all metals analyzed; the most harmful was Cr followed by As. The most damaging exposure route was inhalation, followed by the dermal and ingestion routes. Children were the most vulnerable population for non-carcinogenic risk, while for carcinogenic risk; the population most likely to suffer some type of cancer was the adult one. So, it is clear that the populations living close to these rivers have a high probability of having different diseases and cancer, due to the high heavy metal contamination that exists in these waters.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been carried out as part of Project 1370-CU-P-2014, funded by the Technical University of Ambato, and the Prometeo Scholarship Program of the National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador. The authors would like to thank the CORLABEC laboratories for water sample analysis and MAGAP for information on the irrigation canal and maps. The authors would like to thank MSc. Eloisa Le Riverend, Janet Lynn and Darren Clarke for their review of English.
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This work has been carried out as part of Project 1370-CU-P-2014, funded by the Research Directorate of the Technical University of Ambato, and the 0932-CU-P-2016 Project financed by the Technical University of Ambato; in addition to the Prometeo Scholarship Program of the National Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador all granted to SS-M.
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SS-M, LVP, and MACS participated in the collection of samples; SS-M, LVP, MACS and DACR participated in the critical review; SS-M drafted and approved its final version.
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Sánchez-Mateos, S., Pérez, L.V., Córdova Suárez, M.A. et al. Heavy metal contamination in the Cotopaxi and Tungurahua rivers: a health risk. Environ Earth Sci 79, 144 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8869-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8869-9