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Identifying Sources and Assessing Potential Risk of Exposure to Heavy Metals and Hazardous Materials in Mining Areas: The Case Study of Panasqueira Mine (Central Portugal) as an Example
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The Sn-W Panasqueira mine, in activity since the mid-1890s, is one of the most
important economic deposits in the world. Arsenopyrite is the main mineral present as well
as rejected waste sulphide. The long history is testified by the presence of a huge amount
of tailings, which release considerable quantities of heavy metal(loid)s into the
environment. This work assesses soil contamination and evaluates the ecological and
human health risks due to exposure to hazardous materials. The metal assemblage
identified in soil (Ag-As-Bi-Cd-Cu-W-Zn; potentially toxic elements (PTEs)) reflects the
influence of the tailings, due to several agents including aerial dispersion. PTEs and pH
display a positive correlation confirming that heavy metal mobility is directly related to pH
and, therefore, affects their availability. The estimated contamination factor classified
92.6% of soil samples as moderately to ultra-highly polluted. The spatial distribution of the
potential ecological risk index classified the topsoil as being of a very high ecological risk,
consistent with wind direction. Non-carcinogenic hazard of topsoil, for children (1–6 years),showed that for As the non-carcinogenic hazard represents a high health risk. The
carcinogenic risks, both for children and adult alike, reveal a very high cancer risk mostly
due to As ingestion.
Description
Keywords
Heavy Metals Mining Areas Genotoxidade Ambiental e Ocupacional Ar e Saúde Ocupacional Panasqueira Mine Potential Toxic Elements Modified Contamination Degree Non-carcinogenic Hazard Carcinogenic Risk Potential Ecological Risk Factor and Risk Index
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Geosciences. 2014;4:240-268. doi:10.3390/geosciences4040240
Publisher
MDPI