Environmental disaster in mining areas: routes of exposure to metals in the Doce River basin

Matos, Alice Rodrigues de; Silva, Heberson Teixeira da; Faria, Marcília de Araújo Medrado; Freire, Bruna Moreira; Pereira, Rodrigo Mendes; Batista, Bruno Lemos; Rodrigues, Jairo Lisboa

doi:10.1007/s13762-022-03981-8

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This is 400-700 times higher than the biodiversity loss related to mining found in this study (2.0 *10 -4 global pdf). Although mining activities can lead to severe local ecosystem damage and environmental disasters [5][6][7][8][47][48][49] , we find that mining activities contribute to less than 0.25% of global land-use related biodiversity loss, which is dominated by agriculture (75%) and forestry (15%) 12,39 . However, as mining areas are concentrated on a small area compared to agriculture and forestry, local impacts are still significant and potential long-term impacts need to be considered in future research.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 86%

“…Also, this study's approach (based on ref 29 ) can be used to integrate further MRIO databases, both monetary (e.g., GLORIA 27 ) and physical (e.g., FABIO 61 ), as well as other data sources (e.g., bilateral trade data) to improve data quality. Moreover, further work is needed to implement other drivers of biodiversity loss into MRIO analysis, including biodiversity impacts of oil and gas mining (especially shale gas and oil sands), acid mine drainage, and environmental disasters due to dam failures of tailings [5][6][7][47][48][49] . Also, other environmental aspects such as local water scarcity of mining [62][63][64] should be tackled.…”

Section: Limitations and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, mining is also one of the most environmentally and socially dangerous human activities. Several studies have documented the harmful consequences for the environment and the link to social conflicts [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] . This involves especially the Global South, where most mining activities take place, but where governments often fail to enforce environmental regulations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Cabernard¹,

Pfister²

2022

Preprint

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The expected growth in infrastructure and energy transition may exacerbate biodiversity loss by the rising demand for mining products. Many mining products are extracted in the Global South and exported to the global North for further processing and final consumption, where a link to the devastating environmental effects is often missing. Based on an enhanced multi-regional input-output database, this study assesses global biodiversity loss associated with land use of mining (mining-related) to identify hotspots, key processing industries, and final consumers of mining products. Our study reveals that half of global mining-related biodiversity loss occur in Indonesia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Major international trade flows of embodied biodiversity loss involve Indonesia’s coal exports to China and India, New Caledonia’s nickel exports to Japan and Australia, and Australia’s iron and aluminum exports to China. Key consumers include China’s growing infrastructure and households in the EU and USA. Electricity generation accounted for 10% of global mining-related biodiversity loss in 2014. The impact of coal-fired electricity is far higher compared to renewables, both overall and per electricity generated. Our results underline synergies in fostering renewables while reducing global biodiversity loss, and provide transparency for industry and policy to source more sustainable mining products.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Limitations and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Cabernard¹,

Pfister²

2022

Preprint

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“…In addition to these indirect impacts, cumulative impacts driven by mining in combination with other pressures (e.g., agriculture), acid mine drainage, soil erosion, environmental disasters due to dam failures of tailings, and other potential long-term impacts are substantial and need to be assessed by future research on a global scale. [5][6][7]35,54,[58][59][60][61]63 3.2. Supply Chain Analysis and Reduction Potentials through Renewable Electricity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, mining causes many environmental and social impacts. Several studies have documented the harmful consequences for the environment and the link to social conflicts. − This involves the Global South in particular, where most mining activities take place but where governments often fail to enforce environmental regulations. In this context, previous studies have also pointed to the trade-off in view of metal-intensive renewable energy production that is crucial to limit global warming below 1.5 °C but likely to exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity. − This and the projected growth in demand for mining products in the future , are alarming signs that related impacts will continue to intensify, highlighting the need for improved sustainability strategies in the mining and metal industry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Cabernard

Pfister

2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Anticipated infrastructure growth and energy transition may exacerbate biodiversity loss through increased demand for mining products. This study uses an enhanced multiregional input–output database (REX, Resolved EXIOBASE) and supply chain impact mapping (SCIM) method to assess global biodiversity loss associated with mining-related land use. We identify hotspots in the supply chain of mining products, compare the impact of fossil and renewable electricity, and estimate the share of mining in total global impacts. We found that half of the global mining-related biodiversity loss occurs in Indonesia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Major international trade flows of embodied biodiversity loss involve Indonesia’s coal exports to China and India, New Caledonia’s nickel exports to Japan and Australia, and Australia’s iron and bauxite exports to China. Key end-consumers include China’s growing infrastructure and the EU’s and USA’s household consumption. Electricity generation accounted for 10% of global mining-related biodiversity loss in 2014. The impact of coal-fired electricity was 10 times higher than that of renewables per unit of electricity generated. Globally, mining contributes to less than 1% of the total land use-related biodiversity loss, which is dominated by agriculture. Our results provide transparency in sourcing more sustainable mining products and underline synergies in fostering renewables to meet local biodiversity and global climate targets.

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Using spatiotemporal ratio analyses to quantitatively estimate water quality recovery of the Rio Doce

Wild¹,

Rouhani²,

Oehrig³

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The Fundão Dam breached on 5 November 2015 (the “Event”), resulting in the release of tailings, water, scoured sediment and/or soil, and other debris to downstream watercourses. Statistical analyses using historical and recent water quality measurements were conducted to assess the extent to which water quality in the Rio Doce was recovering to baseline conditions. A review of station‐ and/or parameter‐specific water quality time series in the Rio Doce revealed two challenges: pre‐Event data imbalance and seasonality. Due to the combined effects of these two factors, data gathered from Rio Doce water quality stations before the Event likely underestimated concentration ranges and limited the usefulness of common recovery assessment techniques such as times series and water quality standard exceedance analyses. These challenges were addressed by calculating quarterly and watershed‐specific river‐to‐tributary ratios. R code was used to produce spatiotemporal time series for 44 investigated parameters that were measured both before and after the Event. The water quality recovery durations shown by the parameter‐ and/or region‐specific river‐to‐tributary ratio time series indicated that (a) turbidity provides the most conservative measure for water quality recovery; (b) chemical parameters associated with the tailings, like manganese and iron recovered faster than turbidity; and (c) other investigated parameters unrelated to the tailings showed either no discernable impact or rapid recovery after the Event. The resulting parameter‐ and/or region‐specific river‐to‐tributary ratio time series provided reliable and quantifiable estimates of water quality recovery durations. The water quality in the region furthest from Fundão Dam, in Espírito Santo, recovered one year after the Event, while water quality in the closest region to Fundão Dam, upstream of Risoleta Neves (Candonga) Dam, recovered 4.2 years after the Event. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:1–13. © 2023 Newfields Companies, LLC. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

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Environmental disaster in mining areas: routes of exposure to metals in the Doce River basin

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity

Using spatiotemporal ratio analyses to quantitatively estimate water quality recovery of the Rio Doce

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