Elemental contamination of an open-pit mining area in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

New technologies and higher prices of raw materials have promoted the expansion of mining activity throughout the world; if not properly regulated, this activity can lead to contamination of the local and regional environment. The city of Cerro de Pasco is located close to a large open-pit mine and in recent years, several reports have provided evidence of environmental contamination and related health problems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the contamination in fluvial water, sediments and biological fluids from this area. The collective results show elevated metal and metalloid concentrations in rivers and sediments, especially in the areas downstream of the mine. For instance, Pb concentration in rivers downstream of the mine was 4.451 mg/L, while it was 0.037 mg/L upstream of the mine. Sediments also show higher concentration of metals and metalloids in the areas under the influence of the mine. Concentrations of elements in human blood were measured in the population of Paragsha, a village close to the mine. Analysis of the blood samples revealed elevated levels of metals and metalloids, particularly Pb, Cr, Al, Ni and Mn. All of the studied population showed blood concentrations of Al, Cr and Ni higher than those recommended by the WHO. The high concentration of elements found in the blood of the population could be related to the high concentration in the surrounding water sources, but further studies are required to determine the exact sources of exposure to these metals and metalloids.

Analysis of water contamination in the mining zone of Cerro de Pasco, Peru using the grey clustering method

“…Finally, the points with the greatest contamination in water (A3) are closely related with mining activity and waste disposal, which is in good agreement with the conclusions of Bianchini et al [10] and Orecchio et al [11], as point 2 is located near to the mining company Atacochaas well as point 6 is near the Rumillana dump.…”

“…The results obtained from these assessments could help the mining companies or the Peruvian government to take appropriate measurements to prevent and minimize social conflicts over mining projects. In addition, a study developed by Bianchini et al [10], was focused on evaluating the water quality in Cerro de Pasco, since previous results showed, among many factors, that 53% of children and 9% of pregnant women had high levels of Pb in their blood, which could be related to the 15.8% of infant mortality caused by congenital malformations. The study was developed measuring 10 points in Tingo River, Huallaga River and San Juan River.…”

Heavy metal contamination of topsoil and parts of peach-tree growing at different distances from a smelting complex

“…Metal extraction, i.e., mining, mineral processing and smelting, generates various waste materials (waste rocks, mill and flotation tailings, smelting slag, waste solutions, flue gases and dust) (Moore and Louma 1990;Stüben et al 2001;Bianchini et al 2015). These waste materials pollute soil, surface and underground water, as well as air even far from the source of pollution (Li et al 2006;Malmstrom et al 2006;Anju and Banerjee 2012).…”

New Mining Concessions Could Severely Decrease Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Ecuador

“…A central question is whether or not the presence of mining concessions, per se , are damaging to ecosystems and the biodiversity that they harbor, or if it is only mining exploitation which is damaging. There is little debate over the harm that mining exploitation causes to the biodiversity and water resources adjacent to and downstream from such extractive activities (Asner & Tupayachi, 2017; Bianchini et al., 2015; Sonter et al., 2017). The probability that a concession will yield an active mine is generally agreed to be low, though exact figures are lacking for modern prospecting methodologies and will depend on the mineral in question.…”