Using Performance Indicators to Evaluate an Environmental Education Program in Artisanal Gold Mining Communities in the Brazilian Amazon

Sousa, Rodolfo N.; Veiga, Marcello M.

doi:10.1579/0044-7447-38.1.40

Cited by 58 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…of Canada, 2012;Tian et al, 2011;Wheatley and Wheatley, 2000). This also extends to include Hg exposure (both MeHg in food and GEM in air) in communities in close proximity to small-scale artisanal gold mining activities (Barbosa et al, 2003;Sousa and Veiga, 2009).…”

Section: S Mclagan Et Al: Passive Air Sampling Of Gaseous Elemenmentioning

confidence: 94%

Passive air sampling of gaseous elemental mercury: a critical review

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Because gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) is distributed globally through the atmosphere, reliable means of measuring its concentrations in air are important. Passive air samplers (PASs), designed to be cheap, simple to operate, and to work without electricity, could provide an alternative to established active sampling techniques in applications such as (1) long-term monitoring of atmospheric GEM levels in remote regions and in developing countries, (2) atmospheric mercury source identification and characterization through finely resolved spatial mapping, and (3) the recording of personal exposure to GEM. An effective GEM PAS requires a tightly constrained sampling rate, a large and stable uptake capacity, and a sensitive analytical technique. None of the GEM PASs developed to date achieve levels of accuracy and precision sufficient for the reliable determination of background concentrations over extended deployments. This is due to (1) sampling rates that vary due to meteorological factors and manufacturing inconsistencies, and/or (2) an often low, irreproducible and/or unstable uptake capacity of the employed sorbents. While we identify shortcomings of existing GEM PAS, we also reveal potential routes to overcome those difficulties. Activated carbon and nanostructured metal surfaces hold promise as effective sorbents. Sampler designs incorporating diffusive barriers should be able to notably reduce the influence of wind on sampling rates.

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Section: S Mclagan Et Al: Passive Air Sampling Of Gaseous Elemenmentioning

confidence: 94%

Passive air sampling of gaseous elemental mercury: a critical review

et al. 2016

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“…This practice is primarily found in developing countries of South America, Asia, and Africa [1][2][3]. In the Amazon, substantial ASGM activities started in the 1950s at a few sites, called garimpos.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Amazon, substantial ASGM activities started in the 1950s at a few sites, called garimpos. Currently, hundreds of thousands of people are directly involved in ASGM in the Amazon Basin due to the relatively high rise in the gold price (USD 1100/oz) in recent years [2,4,5]. In Brazil alone, ASGM gold production is responsible for 30 tonnes of gold per year, of which about 26% is produced in the Tapajós River Basin in the Amazon by approximately 50,000 miners (or garimpeiros) who are distributed in more than 300 mining sites [4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite its contribution to the local economy, ASGM causes several environmental impacts, such as mercury contamination, water siltation, and landscape degradation [2,8]. The ASGM local practice results in high water siltation due to the discharge of sediment from the margins of the rivers, where exploitation of alluvial deposits usually takes place [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Tapajós River Basin (Brazilian Amazon) over the Past 40 Years and Relationship with Water Siltation

et al. 2016

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An innovative remote sensing approach that combines land-use change and water quality information is proposed in order to investigate if Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) area extension is associated with water siltation in the Tapajós River Basin (Brazil), containing the largest small-scale gold mining district in the world. Taking advantage of a 40-year period of the multi-satellite imagery archive, the objective of this paper is to build a normalized time-series in order to evaluate the influence of temporal mining expansion on the water siltation data (TSS, Total Suspended Solids concentration) derived from previous research. The methodological approach was set to deliver a full characterization of the ASGM expansion from its initial stages in the early 1970s to the present. First, based on IRS/LISSIII images acquired in 2012, the historical Landsat image database was corrected for radiometric and atmospheric effects using dark vegetation as reference to create a normalized time-series. Next, a complete update of the mining areas distribution in 2012 derived from the TerraClass Project (an official land-use classification for the Brazilian Amazon) was conducted having IRS/LISSIII as the base map with the support of auxiliary data and vector editing. Once the ASGM in 2012 was quantified (261.7 km 2 ) and validated with photos, a reverse classification of ASGM in 2001 (171.7 km 2 ), 1993 (166.3 km 2 ), 1984 (47.5 km 2 ), and 1973 (15.4 km 2 ) with the use of Landsat archives was applied. This procedure relies on the assumption that ASGM changes in the land cover are severe and remain detectable from satellite sensors for decades. The mining expansion area over time was then combined with the (TSS) data retrieved from the same atmospherically corrected satellite imagery based on the literature. In terms of gold mining expansion and water siltation effects, four main periods of ASGM activities were identified in the study area: (i) 1958-1977, first occurrence of mining activities and low water impacts; (ii) 1978-1993, introduction of low-budget mechanization associated with very high gold prices resulting in large mining area expansion and high water siltation levels; (iii) 1994-2003, general recession of ASGM activities and exhaustion of easy-access gold deposits, resulting in decreased TSS; (iv) 2004 to present, intensification of ASGM encouraged by high gold prices, resulting in an increase of TSS.

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“…Water siltation caused by gold mining is commonly reported throughout the world (such as Indonesia [2] in Asia, Ghana [9] in Africa, and French Guyana [10] and Peru [11] in South America) due to the fact that most of the mining activities occur in rivers or at their margins [12]. In the Brazilian Amazon, for example, sediments from mining tailings in streams and rivers may vary between one and two tonnes per gram of gold produced [13]. One of the major impacts of water siltation is the increase in light attenuation by suspended particles, which can directly affect phytoplankton productivity by limiting the availability of Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR), and indirectly contribute to changes in biodiversity within rivers, including plankton [10], macroinvertebrates [14], and fish [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Small-Scale Gold Mining Tailings on the Underwater Light Field in the Tapajós River Basin, Brazilian Amazon

et al. 2017

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Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) within the Amazon region has created several environmental impacts, such as mercury contamination and changes in water quality due to increased siltation. This paper describes the effects of water siltation on the underwater light environment of rivers under different levels of gold mining activities in the Tapajós River Basin. Furthermore, it investigates possible impacts on the phytoplankton community. Two field campaigns were conducted in the Tapajós River Basin, during high water level and during low water level seasons, to measure Inherent and Apparent Optical Properties (IOPs, AOPs), including scattering (b) and absorption (a) coefficients and biogeochemical data (sediment content, pigments, and phytoplankton quantification). The biogeochemical data was separated into five classes according to the concentration of total suspended solids (TSS) ranging from 1.8 mg·L −1 to 113.6 mg·L −1 . The in-water light environment varied among those classes due to a wide range of concentrations of inorganic TSS originated from different levels of mining activities. For tributaries with low or no influence of mining tailings (TSS up to 6.8 mg·L −1 ), waters are relatively more absorbent with b:a ratio of 0.8 at 440 nm and b 660 magnitude of 2.1 m −1 . With increased TSS loadings from mining operations (TSS over 100 mg·L −1 ), the scattering process prevails over absorption (b:a ratio of 10.0 at 440 nm), and b 660 increases to 20.8 m −1 . Non-impacted tributaries presented a critical depth for phytoplankton productivity of up to 6.0 m with available light evenly distributed throughout the spectra. Whereas for greatly impacted waters, attenuation of light was faster, reducing the critical depth to about 1.7 m, with most of the available light comprising of red wavelengths. Overall, a dominance of diatoms was observed for the upstream rivers, whereas cyanobacteria prevailed in the low section of the Tapajós River. The results suggest that the spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton in the Tapajós River Basin is not only a function of light availability, but rather depends on the interplay of factors, including flood pulse, water velocity, nutrient availability, and seasonal variation of incoming irradiance. Ongoing research indicates that the effects of mining tailings on the aquatic environment, described here, are occurring in several rivers within the Amazon River Basin.

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Using Performance Indicators to Evaluate an Environmental Education Program in Artisanal Gold Mining Communities in the Brazilian Amazon

Cited by 58 publications

References 18 publications

Passive air sampling of gaseous elemental mercury: a critical review

Passive air sampling of gaseous elemental mercury: a critical review

Distribution of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Tapajós River Basin (Brazilian Amazon) over the Past 40 Years and Relationship with Water Siltation

Effects of Small-Scale Gold Mining Tailings on the Underwater Light Field in the Tapajós River Basin, Brazilian Amazon

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