Evaluation of Mercury, Arsenic, Lead and Cadmium in River Water Intended for Human Consumption as a Consequence of Mining Activities.

Abstract

The vast majority of mineral deposits that exist in Ecuador are located in the Andean zone, and in this sense it is important to carry out permanent monitoring of heavy metals present in the soil, and mainly in the water, especially in places where One of its economic activities is mining, with this background this work is based on monitoring potentially toxic elements: Mercury, Arsenic, Lead and Cadmium, these being the main ones that cause damage to the health of the population due to their toxic effects , the monitoring of these toxic elements is carried out in the upper basin of the Santa Rosa River, this place is selected due to the mining activity that exists in the Santa Rosa canton, province of El Oro-Ecuador, 10 sampling points are selected to the along 81 kilometers of the river basin and samples are included in the water plant, the same one that is destined for human consumption, the analysis of the samples was carried out by E Atomic Emission Spectroscopy with Inductive Coupling Plasma (ICP-AES), the results obtained show contamination of the water resource, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and INEN 1108, World Health Organization ( WHO), and the applied surveys show the use of this water in different activities, both domestic and agricultural, therefore the objective of this work is to raise awareness in the community in general about the importance of taking care of the water resource and taking all preventive measures for public health.