Arsenic in Latin America: New findings on source, mobilization and mobility in human environments in 20 countries based on decadal research 2010-2020Show others and affiliations
2020 (English)In: Critical reviews in environmental science and technology, ISSN 1064-3389, E-ISSN 1547-6537, p. 1-119Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Today (year 2020), the globally recognized problem of arsenic (As) contamination of water resources and other environments at toxic levels has been reported in all of the 20 Latin American countries. The present review indicates that As is prevalent in 200 areas across these countries. Arsenic is naturally released into the environment and mobilized from geogenic sources comprising: (i) volcanic rocks and emissions, the latter being transported over thousands of kilometers from the source, (ii) metallic mineral deposits, which get exposed to human beings and livestock through drinking water or food chain, and (iii) As-rich geothermal fluids ascending from deep geothermal reservoirs contaminate freshwater sources. The challenge for mitigation is increased manifold by mining and related activities, as As from mining sites is transported by rivers over long distances and even reaches and contaminates coastal environments. The recognition of the As problem by the authorities in several countries has led to various actions for remediation, but there is a lack of long-term strategies for such interventions. Often only total As concentration is reported, while data on As sources, mobilization, speciation, mobility and pathways are lacking which is imperative for assessing quality of any water source, i.e. public and private.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor and Francis Inc. , 2020. p. 1-119
Keywords [en]
Environmental and health impacts, geogenic arsenic in Latin America, sources and mobilization, Agriculture, Arsenic, Geothermal fields, Mineral resources, Minerals, Potable water, Volcanic rocks, Water resources, Coastal environments, Freshwater sources, Geothermal fluids, Geothermal reservoir, Human environment, Latin americans, Long-term strategy, Metallic mineral, Chemical contamination, ground water, sea water, surface water, water, drinking water, food chain, mineral deposit, mining, mobilization, volcanic rock, water resource, aquifer, Argentina, arsenic poisoning, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Chile, coastal waters, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, environmental aspects and related phenomena, environmental exposure, environmental impact, fluid intake, Guatemala, Haiti, health hazard, Honduras, human, industry and industrial phenomena, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Review, sediment, soil, soil pollution, South and Central America, tourism, Uruguay, vegetation, Venezuela, water contamination, water supply, Latin America
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-45645DOI: 10.1080/10643389.2020.1770527Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85088114904OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-45645DiVA, id: diva2:1457803
Note
Funding details: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior, CAPES; Funding details: Agencia Nacional de Promoción CientÃfica y Tecnológica, ANPCyT; Funding details: Agencia Nacional de Promoción CientÃfica y Tecnológica, ANPCyT, PICT-2015-208; Funding text 1: The authors want to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, which improved the manuscript, as well as the support of different organizations. Lue-Meru Marco Parral: To the projects: FONACIT 2011000961. Registered at CDCHT as RAG-004-2012 and CDCHT-UCLA, 007-AG- 2015. J. Schneider (Brazil) (Project PNPD 88887.363100 / 2019-00) acknowledge Capes for providing postPhD scholarship. Marta Litter thanks the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT) from Argentina under PICT-2015-208, and BioCriticalMetals – ERAMIN 2015 grants. Sebastian Dietrich (Argentina) thanks the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), Proyecto PICT 1805/2014. Valeria Delgado Quezada and Maximina Altamirano Espinoza thank PhD Bayardo González Rodríguez for some of the data provided for this article: 1) the study “Mecanismos de contaminacion de arsénico en comunidades rurales de Nicaragua. Caso de estudio: Muy Muy, Matagalpa”, where he had the collaboration of the Master’s student in Environmental Engineering from PIENSA-UNI, Ing. Eduardo Israel Velásquez Castillo to whom we thank his participation; and 2) for the study “The Arsenic Project. A Multidisciplinary Project in Nicaragua” carried out by Master´s students from TU Delft, with the collaboration from Brabant Water, Royal HaskoningDHV, ANA, Iv Groep, UNI and CISTA/UNAN-León.
2020-08-132020-08-132023-04-05Bibliographically approved