Mercury spatiality and mobilization in roadside soils adjacent to a savannah ecological reserve
Nenhuma Miniatura disponível
Data
2022-04-01
Autores
Rodrigues, Ygor O.S.
Dórea, José G.
Landim, P. M.B. [UNESP]
Bernardi, José Vicente Elias
Monteiro, Lucas Cabrera
de Souza, João Pedro Rudrigues
Pinto, Lilian de Castro Moraes
Fernandes, Iara Oliveira
de Souza, João Victor Villela
Sousa, Antônia Roberto
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Resumo
Mercury (Hg) is a persistent environmental pollutant of global concern. Recognized anthropic contributions to environmental Hg pollution include fuel fossil emissions, soil erosion, and industrial and mining activities. Environmental Hg that enters water bodies can be methylated before entering the food chain and contaminating man and wildlife. We used a kriging approach for sampling and X-ray crystallography to study the pressure of road-traffic Hg emissions on soil Hg concentrations in an ecological reserve (ESECAE) in Central Brazil’ savannah. We took samples of organic (n = 144) and mineral (n = 144) layers from the road-side and from the undisturbed soils at 0.1, 1, and 2 km from traffic, inside the ESECAE. Overall, total mercury (THg) concentrations determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry were significantly higher in the organic layer than in the mineral layer. The mean soil THg in the organic and mineral layers was highest at the roadside (respectively 19.77 ± 12.01 and 16.18 ± 11.54 μg g−1), gradually decreasing with the distance from the road. At 2 km, the mean soil THg was 0.09 ± 0.30 and 0.029 ± 0.03 μg g−1, respectively, for the organic and mineral layers. X-ray crystallography showed mineralogical similarity of the sampled soils, indicating Hg externality, i.e, it did not originate from existing soil minerals. Co-kriging analysis (n = 288) confirmed Hg hotspots on the roadsides and a faster mobilization occurring up to a distance of 1 km for both layers. The soil reception and retention of traffic Hg emissions are mainly in the organic layer and can impact subsoil and adjacent areas. Thus, traffic soil-Hg pollution is limited to the road proximities; THg concentrations are high up to 100 m with an inflection point at 1 km.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Brazilian cerrado, Cokriging, Mercury, Roadside soil, Savannah
Como citar
Environmental Research, v. 205.