Assessment of Atmospheric Mercury Deposition in the Vicinity of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mines Using Glycine max as Bioindicators

Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is one of the main sources of global Hg emissions and is present over a wide territorial in the southern Amazonia. In this region, there is a rapid approximation between agricultural and livestock activities and the impact of this close proximity having l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 231; no. 11
Main Authors:	Casagrande, Gabriela Cristina Rabello, Franco, Dante Noronha de Mello, Moreno, Maria Inês Cruzeiro, de Andrade, Ednaldo Antônio, Battirola, Leandro Dênis, de Andrade, Ricardo Lopes Tortorela
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 01-11-2020 Springer Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Approximation Atmospheric composition Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution Bioaccumulation Bioindicators Biological monitoring Biomonitoring Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts Contamination Deposition Earth and Environmental Science Emissions Environment Environmental monitoring Glycine (amino acid) Gold Gold mines & mining Gold mines and mining Heavy metals Hydrogeology Indicator organisms Indicator species Indicators (Biology) Leaves Livestock Mercury Mercury (metal) Mineral industry Mining industry Mitigation Pollutant deposition Pollution control Soil Science & Conservation Soybean Soybeans Translocation Water Quality/Water Pollution Bioindication Biomonitoring Environmental monitoring ASGM Metal trace Monoculture
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Summary:	Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is one of the main sources of global Hg emissions and is present over a wide territorial in the southern Amazonia. In this region, there is a rapid approximation between agricultural and livestock activities and the impact of this close proximity having little or no evaluation. Thus, we have determined the Hg concentration in soybean plants in an area with ASGMs activities. The concentration of Hg in plants was higher in the vicinity of the ASGMs, where the Hg leaf concentration was three times higher, suggesting a higher atmospheric metal deposition in this area. It is estimated that atmospheric Hg deposition in the vicinity of ASGMs of up to 6.94 g km −2 during the contact time between leaves and atmosphere. The translocation and bioaccumulation factors reinforce the effect of atmospheric Hg deposition, mainly, in the leaves. No impact was observed on the edible part of the plant due to the proximity of the ASGMs. It can be inferred that our results point to considerable rates of Hg emissions in the southern Amazon region and indicate the need to monitor these emissions so as to facilitate the taking of pollution mitigation actions. Soybean plants have a potential use as a bioindicator species of Hg contamination from ASGM, and the proposed method consists of an viable alternative, which can be used for the biomonitoring of long-term Hg emissions.
ISSN:	0049-6979 1573-2932
DOI:	10.1007/s11270-020-04918-y