Time-sequence development of metal(loid)s following the 2015 dam failure in the Doce river estuary, Brazil

Fabian Sá; Cybelle Menolli Longhini; Eduardo Schettini Costa; Cesar Alexandro da Silva; Renata Caiado Cagnin; Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira Gomes; Ana Teresa Lima; Angelo Fraga Bernardino; Renato Rodrigues Neto

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144532

Time-sequence development of metal(loid)s following the 2015 dam failure in the Doce river estuary, Brazil

Fabian Sá^*, Cybelle Menolli Longhini, Eduardo Schettini Costa, Cesar Alexandro da Silva, Renata Caiado Cagnin, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira Gomes, Ana Teresa Lima, Angelo Fraga Bernardino, Renato Rodrigues Neto

^*Corresponding author for this work

Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

In the context of the Doce river (Southeast Brazil) Fundão dam disaster in 2015, we monitored the changes in concentrations of metal(loid)s in water and sediment and their particulate and dissolved partitioning over time. Samples were collected before, during, and after the mine tailings arrival to the Doce river estuary (pre-impact: 12, 10, 3 and 1 day; acute stage: tailing day – TD and 1 day after – DA; chronic stage: 3 months and 1 year post-disaster). Our results show that metal(loid) concentrations significantly increased with time after the disaster and changed their chemical partitioning in the water. 35.2 mg Fe L⁻¹ and 14.4 mg Al L⁻¹ were observed in the total (unfiltered) water during the acute stage, while aqueous Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn concentrations all exceeded both Brazilian and international safe levels for water quality. The Al, Fe and Pb partitioning coefficient log (K_d) decrease in the acute stage could be related to the high colloid content in the tailings. We continued to observe high concentrations for Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn mainly in the particulate fraction during the chronic stage. Furthermore, the Doce river estuary had been previously contaminated by As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb, with a further increase in sediment through the tailing release (e.g. 9-fold increase for Cr, from 3.61 ± 2.19 μg g⁻¹ in the pre-impact to 32.16 ± 20.94 μg·g⁻¹ in the chronic stage). Doce river sediments and original tailing samples were similar in metal(loid) composition for Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn. As a result, these elements could be used as geochemical markers of the Fundão tailings and considering other key parameters to define a baseline for monitoring the impacts of this environmental disaster.

Original language	English
Article number	144532
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	769
Number of pages	12
ISSN	0048-9697
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144532
Publication status	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Instituto Chico Mendes de Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for supporting the sampling surveys and LabPosseidon at Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil) for providing salinity and temperature data for the 3 months post-disaster survey. We are also thankful to the Brazilian Federal Police, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and Instituto Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (IEMA) for providing original tailing samples. LEOG is supported by a PELD-HCES scholarship. AFB was supported by FAPES , CAPES and CNPq grants N 77683544/2017 and 301161/2017–8 .

Keywords

Geochemical marker
Metal(loid)s contamination
Mine tailing disaster
Samarco, Brazil

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@article{901b985d73794d748773815212c70b3e,

title = "Time-sequence development of metal(loid)s following the 2015 dam failure in the Doce river estuary, Brazil",

abstract = "In the context of the Doce river (Southeast Brazil) Fund{\~a}o dam disaster in 2015, we monitored the changes in concentrations of metal(loid)s in water and sediment and their particulate and dissolved partitioning over time. Samples were collected before, during, and after the mine tailings arrival to the Doce river estuary (pre-impact: 12, 10, 3 and 1 day; acute stage: tailing day – TD and 1 day after – DA; chronic stage: 3 months and 1 year post-disaster). Our results show that metal(loid) concentrations significantly increased with time after the disaster and changed their chemical partitioning in the water. 35.2 mg Fe L−1 and 14.4 mg Al L−1 were observed in the total (unfiltered) water during the acute stage, while aqueous Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn concentrations all exceeded both Brazilian and international safe levels for water quality. The Al, Fe and Pb partitioning coefficient log (Kd) decrease in the acute stage could be related to the high colloid content in the tailings. We continued to observe high concentrations for Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn mainly in the particulate fraction during the chronic stage. Furthermore, the Doce river estuary had been previously contaminated by As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb, with a further increase in sediment through the tailing release (e.g. 9-fold increase for Cr, from 3.61 ± 2.19 μg g−1 in the pre-impact to 32.16 ± 20.94 μg·g−1 in the chronic stage). Doce river sediments and original tailing samples were similar in metal(loid) composition for Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn. As a result, these elements could be used as geochemical markers of the Fund{\~a}o tailings and considering other key parameters to define a baseline for monitoring the impacts of this environmental disaster.",

keywords = "Geochemical marker, Metal(loid)s contamination, Mine tailing disaster, Samarco, Brazil",

author = "Fabian S{\'a} and Longhini, {Cybelle Menolli} and Costa, {Eduardo Schettini} and {da Silva}, {Cesar Alexandro} and Cagnin, {Renata Caiado} and Gomes, {Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira} and Lima, {Ana Teresa} and Bernardino, {Angelo Fraga} and Neto, {Renato Rodrigues}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to Instituto Chico Mendes de Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for supporting the sampling surveys and LabPosseidon at Federal University of Esp{\'i}rito Santo (Brazil) for providing salinity and temperature data for the 3 months post-disaster survey. We are also thankful to the Brazilian Federal Police, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renov{\'a}veis (IBAMA) and Instituto Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Recursos H{\'i}dricos (IEMA) for providing original tailing samples. LEOG is supported by a PELD-HCES scholarship. AFB was supported by FAPES , CAPES and CNPq grants N 77683544/2017 and 301161/2017–8 . ",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144532",

language = "English",

volume = "769",

journal = "Science of the Total Environment",

issn = "0048-9697",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Time-sequence development of metal(loid)s following the 2015 dam failure in the Doce river estuary, Brazil

AU - Sá, Fabian

AU - Longhini, Cybelle Menolli

AU - Costa, Eduardo Schettini

AU - da Silva, Cesar Alexandro

AU - Cagnin, Renata Caiado

AU - Gomes, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira

AU - Lima, Ana Teresa

AU - Bernardino, Angelo Fraga

AU - Neto, Renato Rodrigues

N1 - Funding Information: The authors are grateful to Instituto Chico Mendes de Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for supporting the sampling surveys and LabPosseidon at Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil) for providing salinity and temperature data for the 3 months post-disaster survey. We are also thankful to the Brazilian Federal Police, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and Instituto Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (IEMA) for providing original tailing samples. LEOG is supported by a PELD-HCES scholarship. AFB was supported by FAPES , CAPES and CNPq grants N 77683544/2017 and 301161/2017–8 .

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - In the context of the Doce river (Southeast Brazil) Fundão dam disaster in 2015, we monitored the changes in concentrations of metal(loid)s in water and sediment and their particulate and dissolved partitioning over time. Samples were collected before, during, and after the mine tailings arrival to the Doce river estuary (pre-impact: 12, 10, 3 and 1 day; acute stage: tailing day – TD and 1 day after – DA; chronic stage: 3 months and 1 year post-disaster). Our results show that metal(loid) concentrations significantly increased with time after the disaster and changed their chemical partitioning in the water. 35.2 mg Fe L−1 and 14.4 mg Al L−1 were observed in the total (unfiltered) water during the acute stage, while aqueous Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn concentrations all exceeded both Brazilian and international safe levels for water quality. The Al, Fe and Pb partitioning coefficient log (Kd) decrease in the acute stage could be related to the high colloid content in the tailings. We continued to observe high concentrations for Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn mainly in the particulate fraction during the chronic stage. Furthermore, the Doce river estuary had been previously contaminated by As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb, with a further increase in sediment through the tailing release (e.g. 9-fold increase for Cr, from 3.61 ± 2.19 μg g−1 in the pre-impact to 32.16 ± 20.94 μg·g−1 in the chronic stage). Doce river sediments and original tailing samples were similar in metal(loid) composition for Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn. As a result, these elements could be used as geochemical markers of the Fundão tailings and considering other key parameters to define a baseline for monitoring the impacts of this environmental disaster.

AB - In the context of the Doce river (Southeast Brazil) Fundão dam disaster in 2015, we monitored the changes in concentrations of metal(loid)s in water and sediment and their particulate and dissolved partitioning over time. Samples were collected before, during, and after the mine tailings arrival to the Doce river estuary (pre-impact: 12, 10, 3 and 1 day; acute stage: tailing day – TD and 1 day after – DA; chronic stage: 3 months and 1 year post-disaster). Our results show that metal(loid) concentrations significantly increased with time after the disaster and changed their chemical partitioning in the water. 35.2 mg Fe L−1 and 14.4 mg Al L−1 were observed in the total (unfiltered) water during the acute stage, while aqueous Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn concentrations all exceeded both Brazilian and international safe levels for water quality. The Al, Fe and Pb partitioning coefficient log (Kd) decrease in the acute stage could be related to the high colloid content in the tailings. We continued to observe high concentrations for Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn mainly in the particulate fraction during the chronic stage. Furthermore, the Doce river estuary had been previously contaminated by As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb, with a further increase in sediment through the tailing release (e.g. 9-fold increase for Cr, from 3.61 ± 2.19 μg g−1 in the pre-impact to 32.16 ± 20.94 μg·g−1 in the chronic stage). Doce river sediments and original tailing samples were similar in metal(loid) composition for Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, V and Zn. As a result, these elements could be used as geochemical markers of the Fundão tailings and considering other key parameters to define a baseline for monitoring the impacts of this environmental disaster.

KW - Geochemical marker

KW - Metal(loid)s contamination

KW - Mine tailing disaster

KW - Samarco, Brazil

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144532

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144532

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33485202

AN - SCOPUS:85099520347

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 769

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

M1 - 144532

ER -

Time-sequence development of metal(loid)s following the 2015 dam failure in the Doce river estuary, Brazil

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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