Abstract
Mining has become one of the main factors in the global biogeochemical cycle of potentially toxic elements. Therefore, it is considered one of the anthropogenic activities with the greatest negative impact on the environment. These impacts are maximized in semiarid regions, where mining activities can lead to soil degradation and decrease in land productivity. This study aimed to assess the level of contamination in natural, urban, and agricultural soils of three important mining areas, where approximately 80,000 people live, and pollution levels have never been determined before. For this purpose, soil samples were collected around iron, uranium, and vanadium mines, as well as in the main human settlements of the region. The concentrations of 34 elements were determined by instrumental neutron analysis activation (INAA) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) techniques. Pollution indices (CF, EF, mCd, PLI, and REEP) revealed that there is a moderate to heavy level of pollution for 89% of the analyzed elements. Additionally, an extreme contamination level was observed in 78% of the samples, for at least one element. Statistical analyses were performed to identify patterns in the distribution and common sources of pollution. The results suggest that the concentrations for Al, Ba, Hf, Na, Pb, Rb, REE, Ta, Th, U, Zn, and Zr are associated with geogenic causes. However, the influence of anthropogenic sources such as agriculture and mining on the accumulation of these elements in soils should not be disregarded. In contrast, the contents of As, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, Sc, Ti, and V reflect the direct impact of anthropogenic sources.
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Certified Reference Material from Service d´ Analyse des Roches et des Minérauxs (SARM), France.
Certified Reference Material from the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ), Japan.
Certified Reference Material from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Austria.
Certified Reference Material from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), United States.
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded in part by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel – Brazil (CAPES) and by the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), Bahia—Brazil. The authors would like to thank the staff of the Research Reactor Center (CRPq) belonging to the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), for the technological support and the Research Laboratory in Analytical Chemistry (LPQA) of the UESC for the logistic support provided for the ICP OES analysis. We appreciate the contribution (maps elaboration) of Romario Oliveira de Santana, a Ph.D. PRODEMA-UESC student. Finally, we would like to thank all the colleagues of the Center for Research in Radiation Sciences and Technologies (CPqCTR) for their support in carrying out this work.
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Diango M. Montalván Olivares was involved in substantial contributions to conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article and critical review. Caroline Santana contributed to acquisition and analysis of data, drafting the article. Fermin Garcia Velasco helped in contributions to conception of the study, critical review of important intellectual content, final approval of the version to be submitted for publication. Francisco H. Martinez Luzardo was involved in contributions to conception of the study, drafting the article and critical review of important intellectual content. Sergio Fred Ribeiro Andrade helped in acquisition of data. Regina Beck Ticianelli contributed to analysis and interpretation of data. Maria Jose Armelin helped in analysis and interpretation of data. Frederico Genezini was involved in critical review of important intellectual content, final approval of the version to be submitted for publication. All authors agreed to publish the manuscript respecting the current sequence of authors listed. Likewise, all authors agreed to designate Diango M. Montalván as the corresponding author of the submission.
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Montalván-Olivares, D.M., Santana, C.S., Velasco, F.G. et al. Multi-element contamination in soils from major mining areas in Northeastern of Brazil. Environ Geochem Health 43, 4553–4576 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-00934-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-00934-x