Abstract
Naturally elevated contents of copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) are found in soils worldwide, and their potential toxicity is better understood when geochemical reactive fractions are identified and monitored. Thus, this study aimed to assess the bioavailability of Cu and Ni and estimate environmental risks in naturally metal-enriched soils of Carajás Mining Province, Eastern Amazon, Brazil. For that, 58 surficial soil samples were analyzed for their extractable contents of Cu and Ni by Mehlich 1. Next, 13 soil samples were selected for additional single and sequential extractions, for the determination of metal content in the shoots of grasses naturally growing in these soils and for calculating the risk assessment code. Despite the naturally high total concentrations, the contents of easily available Cu and Ni are a minor fraction of total concentrations (up to 10.15%), and the reducible oxide and residual pools hold the major proportion of total content of metals. This contributed to low bioavailability, low environmental risk, and also to low concentrations of these metals on grasses collected in the field. Soil organic matter, Fe2O3, Al2O3 and clay content have a dominant role in metals retention on studied soils. Our findings on the bioavailability of Cu and Ni in a region of great economic relevance for Brazil are important not only for predicting the elements’ behavior in the soil–plant system but also for refining risk assessments and to provide useful data for environmental quality monitoring.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Gabriel Negreiros Salomão, Rômulo Simões Angélica, and the team of the Mineral Characterization Laboratory of Institute of Geoscience—UFPA for their scientific collaboration.
Funding
This work was funded by the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, scholarship for GCM—Grant no. 88887.160998/2017–00, related to the project 88887.141247/2017–00 of RD), the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for Grants 306.108/2014–3 and 304.648/2019–1 to RD, 307.166/2019–8 to SRJ and 310.997/2018–6 to LRGG, and the Minas Gerais State Research Foundation (Fapemig) for financial support. This research in linked to the Geochemical background of IRB project funded by the Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV) and Vale (Gerência Ambiental do Corredor Norte de Ferrosos).
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All authors contributed to the conceptualization and investigation. Gabriel Caixeta Martins: writing—original draft, review and editing. Ediu Carlos da Silva Junior: writing—original draft, review and editing. Sílvio Junio Ramos: writing—review and editing. Clóvis Wagner Maurity: writing—review and editing. Prafulla Kumar Sahoo: writing—review and editing. Roberto Dall’Agnol: project administration, funding acquisition, resources, supervision, writing—review and editing. Luiz Roberto Guimarães Guilherme: resources, supervision, writing—review and editing.
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Martins, G.C., da Silva Junior, E.C., Ramos, S.J. et al. Bioavailability of copper and nickel in naturally metal-enriched soils of Carajás Mining Province, Eastern Amazon, Brazil. Environ Monit Assess 193, 256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09056-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09056-4