Abstract
Chile is the leading producer of copper worldwide and its richest mineral deposits are found in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile. Mining activities have significantly increased income and employment in the region; however, there has been little assessment of the resulting environmental impacts to residents. The port of Antofagasta, located 1,430 km north of Santiago, the capital of Chile, functioned as mineral stockpile until 1998 and has served as a copper concentrate stockpile since 2014. Samples were collected in 2014 and 2016 that show elevated concentrations of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn in street dust and in residents’ blood (Pb) and urine (As) samples. To interpret and analyze the spatial variability and likely sources of contamination, existent data of basement rocks and soil geochemistry in the city as well as public-domain airborne dust were studied. Additionally, a bioaccessibility assay of airborne dust was conducted and the chemical daily intake and hazard index were calculated to provide a preliminary health risk assessment in the vicinity of the port. The main conclusions indicate that the concentrations of Ba, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, and V recorded from Antofagasta dust likely originate from intrusive, volcanic, metamorphic rocks, dikes, or soil within the city. However, the elevated concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Zn do not originate from these geologic outcrops, and are thus considered anthropogenic contaminants. The average concentrations of As, Cu, and Zn are possibly the highest in recorded street dust worldwide at 239, 10,821, and 11,869 mg kg−1, respectively. Furthermore, the contaminants As, Pb, and Cu exhibit the highest bioaccessibilities and preliminary health risk indices show that As and Cu contribute to elevated health risks in exposed children and adults chronically exposed to dust in Antofagasta, whereas Pb is considered harmful at any concentration. Therefore, an increased environmental awareness and greater protective measures are necessary in Antofagasta and possibly other similar mining port cities in developing countries.
Highlights
The process of economic development often results in large-scale anthropogenic impacts to the environment and inhabitants of developing countries
Previous well-reported examples of environmental pollution caused by industrial activities include: (i) the 1984 Bhopal incident in India after more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant (Broughton, 2005), (ii) Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986, after the nuclear energy plant explosion of Reactor 4 (Devell et al, 1986; Gale, 1987), (iii) the Baia Mare spill, Romania, in 2000, where nearly 100,000 m3 of cyanide and metal-rich liquid waste was released into the river system near this city (Lucas, 2001; Soldan et al, 2001), and (iv) Sukinda, India, where the most harmful form of chromium (Cr[VI]) pollutes water and inhabitants due to mining activities (Dubey, Sahoo & Nayak, 2001)
Statistical summary and spatial variation Compared to the upper continental crust (UCC) mean concentrations (Rudnick & Gao, 2003; Table 3), Antofagasta dust concentrations of Co, Cr, Mn, and V from 2014 and 2016 were similar, whereas Ba and Ni were lower
Summary
The process of economic development often results in large-scale anthropogenic impacts to the environment and inhabitants of developing countries. Despite harmful consequences that industry and uncontrolled anthropogenic activities have caused and are still contributing to (Reddy & Yarrakula, 2016), an awareness of the environmental impact of these activities is growing in many developing countries. A developing country located along the western border of southern South America, is one example where an environmental awareness has increased with time on a national scale. Often associated with environmental degradation, these activities support an elevated gross domestic product (GDP) that has allowed Chile to be included in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; Ruiz-Rudolph et al, 2016)
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