Surface Water Quality in the Mantaro River Watershed Assessed after the Cessation of Anthropogenic Activities Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In late December 2019, the emerging disease COVID-19 was identified as a global pandemic. Countries around the world have implemented various types of blockades to stop this infection. These health measures have led to a significant reduction in air pollution. However, the impact of these measures on aquatic environments has been little analyzed. In this context, the water quality of rivers in the Mantaro River basin was evaluated using multivariate statistical methods and heavy metal contamination indices during the health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surface water samples were collected in triplicate from 15 sampling sectors at the end of the rainy season, between March and April. Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn and As were determined by the method of atomic absorption flame spectrophotometry. The average concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic in the rivers evaluated did not exceed the environmental quality standards for drinking water of the Peruvian, WHO and US EPA regulations, except for Pb, Fe and As in the Mantaro River and As in the Chia River. PCA presented a total variation percentage of 83.8%. The results showed a clear positive relationship between the five heavy metals and metalloids. The hierarchical cluster analysis according to Spearman's correlation generated a dendrogram where the five chemical elements were grouped in two statistically significant groups, one group conglomerating to Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe and the other group to As. PERMANOVA partition shows that the spatial effects of the sectors are strong and significant. The HPI revealed that 13.33% of the sampling sectors exceeded the critical contamination value (150). The C d revealed low degree of contamination (<1) in 86.67% of the sampling sectors

Human risk associated with the ingestion of artichokes grown in soils irrigated with water contaminated by potentially toxic elements, Junin, Peru

“…The transfer factor (TF) result reflects the potential ability of PTE to move from soil to edible parts of artichoke from sectors irrigated by PTE contaminated water (Table S2) ( Custodio et al, 2021 ). The transfer of PTE from soil to food crops is one of the key processes through which humans are exposed ( Kumar et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Soil contamination through irrigation with PTE contaminated water leads to cross-contamination of food. In the Mantaro River basin in the central region of Peru, large extensions of agricultural soils are irrigated with PTE contaminated water for more than eight decades ( Custodio et al, 2021 ). The continuous use of these waters for irrigation has led to the accumulation of PTE in the agricultural soils of the study area, as revealed by our findings.…”

COVID-19 and environment: a poignant reminder of sustainability in the new normal

“…Improved water quality of rivers due to Covid-19 lockdown was observed from other parts of the world as well such as Turkey (Tokatli and Varol 2021 ), China (Liu et al 2021 ), Malaysia (Najah et al 2021 ) and Peru (Custodio et al 2021 ).…”

Cadmium accumulation and distribution in artichoke plants (Cynara scolymusL.) grown in two contaminated agricultural soils

“…Estos datos indican contaminación de ambos recursos. A largo plazo, alta concentración de Cd en el agua de riego del río Mantaro incrementará la cantidad de Cd absorbido por Alcachofa (Custodio et al, 2020;MINAM, 2019). La presencia de Cd en cultivos como la alcachofa causa un incremento potencial en la cantidad absorbida por humanos y animales, pues son alimentos de consumo cotidiano, que se incorporan a la cadena alimenticia, y se acumulan en los organismos (Antoniadis et al, 2019).…”

“…El Perú, caracterizado por su déficit de agua para la producción agrícola, tiene áreas irrigadas con agua contaminada por elementos potencialmente tóxicos que a largo plazo favorecen la absorción por los cultivos alimenticios (Custodio et al, 2020). El cultivo de alcachofa (Cynara scolymus L.), utilizado para la alimentación, por su alta calidad nutritiva, en la provincia de Concepción, departamento de Junín, utiliza las aguas del río Mantaro para irrigar los campos de cultivo, como en los distritos como Huaychulo y Mito, debido a las condiciones favorables de clima para su desarrollo.…”