Bioaccessibility of Cd and Pb in tailings from a zinc smelting in Brazil: implications for human health

Abstract

Soils and wastes enriched with heavy metals may present ecological and human health risks. A considerable number of mining areas exist in Brazil, where high levels of metals have been found. However, studies of bioaccessibility of metals in soils/tailings from these areas are scarce, despite their potential informational contribution concerning exposure risks of residents near these areas. This study evaluated tailings collected from four sites of a zinc smelting area located in Brazil with aims to: (1) evaluate the presence of metals of potential concern; (2) investigate Cd and Pb bioaccessibility; and (3) determine the desorption kinetics of Cd and Pb. High concentrations of total Cd and Pb (up to 1743 mg Cd kg(-1) and 8675 mg Pb kg(-1)) and great variability were found in the tailings, indicating the importance of adequate planning for their final disposal, in order to avoid contamination in the surrounding environment. Cadmium and Pb bioaccessibility percentages in the intestinal phase were less than 47 and 4 %, respectively, which represents significant fractions not available for absorption in the intestinal tract. However, this material has to be monitored since its bioaccessibility may increase with eventual physicochemical changes, releasing Cd and Pb. Desorption kinetics experiments revealed that Pb in the samples remained in less labile fractions, whereas Cd was found in more labile fractions, which is in accordance with the bioaccessibility results.

Linking oral bioaccessibility and solid phase distribution of potentially toxic elements in extractive waste and soil from an abandoned mine site: Case study in Campello Monti, NW Italy

“…Since the onset of industrial revolution, mining and smelting activities have been at forefront of economic development of many countries. Mining activities generate employment, while also producing a wide variety of minerals that can have countless uses in various contexts (Ono et al, ;Dino et al, 2018a). Yet, mining and dressing activities have resulted in the generation of large quantities of waste and degraded soils.…”

Human bioaccessibility and absorption by intestinal cells of potentially harmful elements from urban environmental matrices

“…The key words used were "bioaccessibility", "Brazil", "soil" and "sediments". Of these 13 papers, one was carried out with soils from state of São Paulo , Souza et al, 2018, one with soils from Amazon forest (Moreira et al, 2018), one with soils of the city of Três Marias, Minas Gerais state (MG) (Ono et al, 2016), two articles and three procedures with soils of Paracatu, MG (Ono et al, 2012a, b;Guilherme et al, 2014;Ng et al, 2014a, b, Ciminelli et al, 2018, two articles with soils from Adrianópolis, State of Paraná (Bosso & Enzweiler, 2008a;Bosso et al, 2008) and a review (Bosso & Enzweiler, 2008b). While around 350 articles and 13 international reviews were found at the Scopus research base, most of them were published by Chinese, American and British researchers.…”