Geochemical mapping and background concentrations of iron and potentially toxic elements in active stream sediments from Carajás, Brazil – implication for risk assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Negreiros Salomão ◽  
Marco Aurélio Figueiredo ◽  
Roberto Dall'Agnol ◽  
Prafulla K. Sahoo ◽  
Carlos A. de Medeiros Filho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Toxic Elements ◽  
Stream Sediments ◽  
Potentially Toxic Elements ◽  
Geochemical Mapping ◽  
Background Concentrations

scholarly journals Human Health Risk Assessment for Exposure to Potentially Toxic Elements in Polluted Rivers in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 613
Author(s):  
Samantha Jiménez-Oyola ◽  
Kenny Escobar Segovia ◽  
María-Jesús García-Martínez ◽  
Marcelo Ortega ◽  
David Bolonio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Cancer Risk ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risk Assessment ◽  
Toxic Elements ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Potentially Toxic Elements ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Polluted Rivers

Anthropogenic activities performed in the Ecuadorian Amazon have released potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into the rivers, causing severe environmental pollution and increasing the risk of exposure to the residents of the surrounding areas. This study aims to carry out a human health risk assessment using deterministic and probabilistic methods to estimate the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR) related to multi-pathway human exposure to PTEs in polluted rivers. Concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in surface water and sediment samples from rivers on the Ecuadorian Amazon were considered to assess the potential adverse human health effects. As a result, deterministic and probabilistic estimations of cancer and non-cancer risk through exposure to surface waters and sediments were above the safety limit. A sensitivity analysis identified the concentration of PTEs and the exposure duration (ED) as the two most important variables for probabilistic health risk assessment. The highest risk for receptors was related to exposure to polluted sediments through incidental ingestion and dermal contact routes. According to the deterministic estimation, the human health risk through ingestion of water was above the threshold in specific locations. This study reveals the potential health risk to which the population is exposed. This information can be used as a baseline to develop public strategies to reduce anthropogenic pollution and exposure to PTEs in Ecuadorian Amazon rivers.

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