Deposition flow of Mercury and Selenium in Hair of riverine in habitants of the Amazon, Brazil

Ano: 2018 | Volume: 4 | Número: 14

Autores: Kleber R. F. Faial, Rosivaldo A. Mendes, Adaelson C. Medeiros, Kelson C. F. Faial, Simonny C. S. Deus, Antônio Miranda, Mônia Silva, Iracina Jesus, Elisabeth Santos, Jandecy Cabral Leite, Ricardo J. A. Deus

Palavras-chave: mercury and selenium; hair; fish; risk assessment; barreiras and tabatinga community

Resumo Inglês:

This  paper  provides  an  estimation  of  Hg,  CH₃Hg⁺ and  Se  levels  in  hair  samples  of  riverine inhabitants belonging to Itaituba municipality - Barreiras community (area impacted by gold miningunderground)   and   Juruti   municipality   - Tabatinga   community   (area   without   mining   impact) (masculine and feminine genus), Pará state (Amazon, Brazil), as well as Hg, CH₃Hg⁺ and Se levels in 12 fish species (carnivores and non-carnivorous), which stand out as the  main species consumed by  riverside  inhabitants,  to  evaluate  a  relationship  between  fish  consumption  frequency;  and  Hg, CH₃Hg⁺  and  Se  concentration,  and  also  to  evaluate  possible  protection  mechanisms  (or  non-protection)  to  Hg  exposure  by  Se.    Results  showed  that  the  levels  of  Hg,  CH₃Hg⁺  and  Se  found  in the  present study,  which  were an  average  of 15.21 μg g⁻¹ of Hg, 10.48 μg g⁻¹ of CH₃Hg⁺ and 3.64 μg g⁻¹ of Se for male inhabitants and an average of 13.89 μg g⁻¹ of Hg, 10.68μg g⁻¹ of CH₃Hg⁺ and  3.60 μg g⁻¹ of  Se for female inhabitants belonging to the Barreira community, were higher than the Hg,  CH₃Hg⁺ and  Se  levels  found  in  hair  samples  from  inhabitants  of  Tabatinga  community  and other gold-producing areas, indicating risk for river side populations along the Tapajós river and for Barreira community. From the information of protective effect (or not) of selenium in hair, given the variation in Se concentration and Hg exposition between the two populations, the molar ratio Hg/Se and Hg millimole  revealed a plausible correlation averaged for hair samples of riverine inhabitants belonging to Barreiras (R² = 0.86, p<0.05) and Tabatinga (R²= 0.57, p<0.05) community. Similarly for  the  fish,  the  molar  ratio  Hg/Se  and  Hg  millimole  revealed  a  plausible  correlation  averaged  for fish samples carnivorous and non-carnivorous (R² = 0.97, p<0.05).