Environmental risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in Doce River watershed after mining sludge dam breakdown in Mariana, MG, Brazil

Faced with a potential risk of a colossal amount of sludge released into the Doce River basin in the most shocking Brazilian mining disaster, we proposed to assess the environmental risk from a new perspective: Understanding the mobilization of potentially toxic elements (PTE) with the geochemical fractions. Soil and sediment samples were taken in nine sites throughout the basin and characterized. The environmental risk was assessed from the PTE sequential extraction in three fractions: soluble, reducible, and oxidizable, in addition to the pseudo-total concentration. The potential mobile fraction (PMF) showed a considerable PTE mobilization from the soil and sediment samples. Principal component statistical analysis indicated the sludge as the single source of PTE. The risk assessment depended on the fractional distribution and the PTE enrichment degree in the affected samples. The fractional distribution contributed mainly to Mn, Sb, and Pb mobility, with PMF of 96%, 81%, and 100%, respectively. The mobilization of Cd, Co, Ag, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Cu was predominantly related to the degree of enrichment. The risk assessment from the geochemical fractions pointed to the magnitude of the disaster and the dispersion of PTE with severe effects on the affected populations. Therefore, more strongly enforced regulations in the basin are needed, in addition to the urgent use of more secure containment dams. It is also essential to emphasize the transferability of the design of this study to other environmental units in mining disaster conditions.