Assessment of Health Risk and Presence of Metals in Water and Fish Samples from Doce River, Brazil, After Fundão Dam Collapse

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 84; no. 3; pp. 377 - 388
• Main Authors: Mourão, Amanda Oliveira, Santos, Mayra Soares, da Costa, Alexandre Sylvio Vieira, da Silva, Heberson Teixeira, Maia, Luiz Fernando Oliveira, Faria, Márcia Cristina da Silva, Rodriguez, Mariandry del Vale Rodriguez, Rodrigues, Jairo Lisboa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-04-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum; Animals; Brazil; Contamination; Dams; Disasters; Dissolved solids; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Fish; Fishes; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Human populations; Humans; Legislation; Manganese; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Mercury - analysis; Metal concentrations; Metals; Metals - analysis; Mine tailings; Mine wastes; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Physicochemical properties; Pollution; Risk assessment; River basins; Rivers; Rupture; Soil Science & Conservation; Solid suspensions; Structure Collapse; Tailings; Total dissolved solids; Total suspended solids; Turbidity; Water - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water sampling; Brazil
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-023-00991-6
• EISSN: 1432-0703
• ISSN: 0090-4341

The rupture of the Fundão dam released about 50 million m
3
of mining tailings in the Doce river basin. To assess the potential for environmental contamination and the risks of residual exposure of the human population generated by these tailings, water and fish samples from the Doce river were collected 25 days after the accident and analyzed the physicochemical parameters of the water and levels of metals by ICP-MS, in addition to the temporal variability of the concentration of these elements through other studies. This was the first study to carry out an assessment of the health risk associated with the consumption of fish contaminated by metals from the areas affected by the disaster. The values of turbidity (5460 NTU), electrical conductivity (74.8 μS cm
−1
), total dissolved solids (892 mg L
−1
) and total suspended solids (772 mg L
−1
) were above the maximum limit allowed by Brazilian legislation, due to the presence of large amounts of solid materials released after the dam rupture. The analysis of metals in water samples indicated high concentrations of Al (1,906.71 μg L
−1
), Mn (370.32 μg L
−1
), Fe (8,503.50 μg L
−1
) and Hg (34.25 μg L
−1
), while for the fish samples, only As (1,033.98 μg kg
−1
) and Hg (herbivorous: 505.32 μg kg
−1
; predatory: 1,184.09 μg kg
−1
) presented levels above those established by Brazilian legislation. The health risk assessment showed that the estimated daily intake for Hg was higher than the reference dose, reinforcing the need for monitoring the area affected by the disaster.