A Multi-Index Analysis Approach to Heavy Metal Pollution Assessment in River Sediments in the Ponce Enríquez Area, Ecuador

Pesantes, Alby Aguilar; Carpio, Elizabeth Peña; Vitvar, Tomáš; López, Michel; Menéndez-Aguado, Juan M.

doi:10.3390/w11030590

Cited by 32 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The I geo mean of Cu, Pb and Zn were below 2 (unpolluted to moderately polluted) while the values of As and Cd were above level 4; heavily to extremely polluted. The I geo values detected in this study were similar to those reported by Aguilar et al [20]. Furthermore, the I geo values in the study area were in the same range as observed in the Colombia, Brazil, Iran and China mining areas [39]- [42], with moderate to severe degree of pollution where As-Cd-Cu metals are the most disturbing contaminants.…”

Section: Geo-accumulation Indexsupporting

confidence: 90%

Heavy Metals in Rivers Affected by Mining Activities in Ecuador: Pollution and Human Health Implications

Escobar-Segovia

Jiménez-Oyola

Garcés

et al. 2021

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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Artisanal and small scale gold mining operations have been an important source of toxic elements in the environment, with possibly negative consequences for ecosystems and human health. This study aims to assess the pollution degree and human health risk due to heavy metals exposure in mining communities. The data correspond to samples collected in rivers located in the vicinity of Ponce Enríquez, one of the most important gold mining sites in Ecuador. The concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were analysed in surface water (n = 13) and sediment (n = 7) samples. Heavy metals contents were compared with (a) the corresponding backgrounds values (Bi) and (b) the permissible limits established by the Ecuadorian regulation. Furthermore, the Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo) and Metal Index (MI) were estimated for sediments and surface waters, respectively. Lastly, the potential adverse effects on human health due to the exposure to HMs in polluted rivers were carried out based on the hazard index (HI) and total cancer risk (TCR), using the traditional deterministic approach. The results showed that surface waters and sediments were enriched in heavy metals. The 57% of the sediment samples showed severe to extremely pollution (Igeo > 3) due to the high contents of As and Cd. On the other hand, surface water was in the strongly to seriously affected category (MI > 3) in 23% of the sample's locations, with As, Cu and Pb as the main contaminants. Likewise, residents exposed to polluted rivers showed HI and TCR values above the safe exposure threshold (HI = 1 and TCR = 10 5 ), being as the main contributor to the overall risk. Based on the preliminary results found in this research, future rivers monitoring and control efforts are needed to reduce the pollutions levels and the health hazard of the inhabitants of the mining areas.

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Section: Geo-accumulation Indexsupporting

confidence: 90%

Heavy Metals in Rivers Affected by Mining Activities in Ecuador: Pollution and Human Health Implications

Escobar-Segovia

Jiménez-Oyola

Garcés

et al. 2021

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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“…Aguilar Pesantes et al. (2019) in the south of Ponce Enríquez investigated the pollution of river sediments by heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Cd, Sb, Sr, and Hg). The results of all indices showed that the concentration of heavy metals in sediments was high.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results showed that very high concentrations of Cu (1,114 mg/kg) were found in the sediments, indicating high contamination of the area with heavy metals. Aguilar Pesantes et al (2019) in the south of Ponce Enríquez investigated the pollution of river sediments by heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Cd, Sb, Sr, and Hg). The results of all indices showed that the concentration of heavy metals in sediments was high.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Ecological Risk Assessment of Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in Roadside Soils

Negahban

Mokarram

2021

Earth and Space Science

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The present study seeks to both estimate and analyze the rate of heavy metal changes in soils of road margins affected by the traffic on Fasa-Darab road, Iran. Muller index, contamination factor (CF), Geo-accumulation index (Igeo), potential ecological risk index (PERI), and pollution load index (PLI) were calculated to determine the contamination rate. Principal component analysis (PCA) was also employed to determine the most relevant parameters affecting the PERI. The maximum amount of heavy metal contamination (2.5 mg/kg) occurred at the nearest road distance, i.e. 2 meters. The results of the Igeo index show that these elements are naturally present in the soil, albeit anthropogenic activity caused an increase in the concentration of these metals in soil. Results of the CF index showed that Ni, Cu, and Zn values were less than 1, indicative of low contamination, whereas, Pb contamination, with values ranging from 3-6 was indicative of high pollution. The PLI results for the most polluted stations showed that stations 14 and 23 were classified as very high contamination and other stations as uncontaminated. The results of clustering data showed the data was in two pollution classes. As maintained by the findings, the first component contributed to 44.98% of the changes and included the Cd, CFCd, RI, Igeo(Cd) parameters, while the second component represented 27.83% of the changes, containing parameters Pb, Igeo(Pb), CFPb. Therefore, Pb and Cd are the most relevant parameters in the analysis of PERI within the study area.

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“…In this current study, it was found that the order of the CV % for heavy metal element from high to low was Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd > Cu > Zn. In some researches, it has been shown that high Ni level is caused by parent material and Pb content is caused by particle from surrounding lead acid battery factory (Pesantes et al, 2019). In addition, mean value of PERI was found 90.91 which indicate as low potential ecological risk in general for all soil samples.…”

Section: Soil Physical and Chemical Properties And Heavy Metalsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessment of potential ecological risk index based on heavy metal elements for organic farming in micro catchments under humid ecological condition

Kars¹,

Dengi̇z²

2020

Eurasian Journal of Soil Science (Ejss)

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Soil pollution, influenced by both the natural and anthropogenic factors, significantly reduces environmental quality. This research was carried out in some micro catchments located on Ordu province of Black Sea Region-Turkey in order to determine potential ecological risk index based on heavy metal elements (HMs) for organic farming. For this purpose, 166 soil samples (0-20 cm) were taken from the study area and some physical and chemical and HM concentrations (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) analysis were done. In this study, it was determined; i-) some physical and chemical properties of catchments' soils, ii-) HM contents and the correlation relation between physico-chemical properties of soil and HM concentrations and iii-) potential ecological risk index (PERI). PERI was calculated using the data obtained to evaluate the environmental risks of HMs in the region. The results showed that Cu concentration in 3%, Cr in 0.6% and Ni in 4.8% of the soil samples exceeded the threshold levels whereas, the concentrations of other HMs were lower than the critical values. Statistically, it was also found significantly positive relationships between sand content and Cu of soils whereas, it was determined significantly negative relationships between EC and Cu. In addition, according to the obtained PERI results, while 54% of total soil samples were low while, 42% of them were moderate class. Only 4% of them were classified as significant ecological risk level. Moreover, according to mean potential ecological risk index of these HMs, it can be ordered as Cd>Pb>Cu>Ni> Zn>Cr.

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A Multi-Index Analysis Approach to Heavy Metal Pollution Assessment in River Sediments in the Ponce Enríquez Area, Ecuador

Cited by 32 publications

References 21 publications

Heavy Metals in Rivers Affected by Mining Activities in Ecuador: Pollution and Human Health Implications

Heavy Metals in Rivers Affected by Mining Activities in Ecuador: Pollution and Human Health Implications

Potential Ecological Risk Assessment of Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in Roadside Soils

Assessment of potential ecological risk index based on heavy metal elements for organic farming in micro catchments under humid ecological condition

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