Domingues Vitor Sousa, Colmenero Carlos, Vinograd Maria, Oliveira-da-Costa Marcelo, Balbueno Rodrigo
Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, Brasília 70818-900, Brazil.
CV Consulting and Analysis, Pedro Leopoldo 33250-075, Brazil.
Toxics. 2024 Aug 18;12(8):599. doi: 10.3390/toxics12080599.
Mercury contamination from gold mining in the Amazon poses significant environmental and health threats to the biome and its local populations. The recent expansion of non-industrial mining areas has severely impacted territories occupied by traditional communities. To address the lack of sampling data in the region and better understand mercury dynamics, this study used the probabilistic model SERAFM to estimate the mercury distribution and bioaccumulation in fish. The analysis covered 8,259 sub-basins across three major Amazonian basins: the Branco, Tapajós and Xingu rivers. The findings revealed increasing downstream mercury levels, with notable accumulations in the main watercourses influenced by methylation processes and mining releases. The projected concentrations showed that an average of 27.47% of the sub-basins might not comply with Brazilian regulations, rising to 52.38% in the Branco and Tapajós river basins separately. The risk assessment of fish consumption based on the projections highlighted high mercury exposure levels among traditional communities, particularly indigenous populations, with an average of 49.79% facing an extremely high risk in the Branco and Tapajós river basins. This study demonstrated SERAFM's capacity to fill information gaps in the Amazon while underscoring the need for enhanced data collection, culturally sensitive interventions and regulatory updates to mitigate mercury contamination in gold mining-affected areas.
亚马逊地区金矿开采造成的汞污染对该生物群落及其当地居民构成了重大的环境和健康威胁。近期非工业矿区的扩张严重影响了传统社区占据的土地。为解决该地区缺乏采样数据的问题并更好地了解汞的动态变化，本研究使用概率模型SERAFM来估算鱼类体内汞的分布和生物累积情况。分析覆盖了亚马逊三大主要流域的8259个次流域：布兰科河、塔帕若斯河和欣古河。研究结果显示，下游汞含量不断增加，在受甲基化过程和采矿排放影响的主要水道中汞有明显累积。预测浓度表明，平均有27.47%的次流域可能不符合巴西的规定，在布兰科河流域和塔帕若斯河流域这一比例分别升至52.38%。基于这些预测对鱼类消费进行的风险评估凸显了传统社区，尤其是原住民群体面临的高汞暴露水平，在布兰科河流域和塔帕若斯河流域平均有49.79%的人面临极高风险。本研究展示了SERAFM填补亚马逊地区信息空白的能力，同时强调需要加强数据收集、采取具有文化敏感性的干预措施并更新监管规定，以减轻受金矿开采影响地区的汞污染。
