Ecological risk assessment for metals in sediment and waters from the Brazilian Amazon region

Diego Ferreira Gomes, Thandy Júnio da Silva Pinto, Larissa Broggio Raymundo, Vinicius da Fontoura Sperandei, Michiel Daam, Raquel Aparecida Moreira, Odete Rocha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pollution by metals is a matter of concern around the world. In recent decades, the high population growth in urban centers has significantly magnified the entry of these pollutants into aquatic ecosystems. The Amazon region, intense migratory flow, gold mining, and industrialization have been considered the main driving forces for increasing metal pollution. Thus, the main aim of this study is to conduct, for the first time, an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) based on metal concentrations measured in the sediment and water of several aquatic environments from the Amazon basin, based on the risk quotient values (RQ = measured environmental concentration - MEC/predicted no effect concentration - PNEC). In addition, the metal contamination factor (CF) was estimated. Although metal concentrations in water were generally low, these values were far above the limits established by current national legislation in many areas, showing higher concentrations for the metals Co, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Ni. Concentrations of Mn, Cu, Ba, Pb, Co, Ni, Cr, Zn, Cd, and As were especially high in the sediment for several evaluated environments. The ERA for the water compartment revealed that 56% of the studied areas presented high risk (RQ > 1) for aquatic biota. In the sediment, 66% of the sites presented a high risk and 40% medium risk (RQ = 0.1–1). The CF indicated that 49% of the sampling points had high contamination and only 24%, had low contamination. These results reveal that monitoring studies in the Amazon region, provides important information so that public policies for the preservation of water resources can be strengthened in the Amazon.
Original languageEnglish
Article number140413
Number of pages10
JournalChemosphere
Volume345
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • Contamination factor
  • Freshwater pollution
  • Legal amazon
  • Metal ecotoxicology
  • Risk quotient

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ecological risk assessment for metals in sediment and waters from the Brazilian Amazon region'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this