Abstract
The rupture of the Fundão dam released about 50 million m3 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 25days 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 (74.8μScm-1), total dissolved solids (892mgL-1) and total suspended solids (772mgL-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 (1,906.71μgL-1), Mn (370.32μgL-1), Fe (8,503.50μgL-1) and Hg (34.25μgL-1), while for the fish samples, only As (1,033.98μgkg-1) and Hg (herbivorous: 505.32μgkg-1; predatory: 1,184.09μgkg-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.
Published Version
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