Avaliação dos impactos ambientais causados sobre o rio Revué pela mineração artesanal

Abstract

Water is a precious resource, essential for human life and environmental sustainability. Even being aware of this, humans continue to use it uncontrollably, altering its quality and harming themselves as well as other living beings that depend on it. Our country, although still developing, has contributed considerably to water pollution through artisanal mining, as the mechanisms for its treatment are scarce. Given this situation, the present work proposes an assessment of the impacts generated by artisanal mining in the Revuè River, necessary in order to provide a clear view regarding the significance of the metals and their impacts, as well as to propose solutions for better management of artisanal mining areas. The objectives of this study are to identify the main areas of artisanal mining activity along the Revuè River, validate the X-Ray Fluorescence and ICP-OES methods, and evaluate the concentration of heavy metals to assess the concentration of heavy metals in sediments, evaluate the physicochemical properties of the water, and propose measures to mitigate the environmental impact resulting from artisanal mining. The methodology used was based on the experimental procedure, which consisted of sample collection and treatment, carried out at 12 points along the Revuè River, from the river's source to the Chicamba dam, and on the Vanduzi River (reference point), analyzed through two methods, X-ray Fluorescence and ICP-OES, and validated using reference materials (SARM 4, 46 and 52 and BCSS-1), and finally the consequent assessment of metals and environmental impacts. The results show that the XRF method, compared to ICP-OES, is valid for determining heavy metals in sediments of the Revuè River. Artisanal mining has little influence on the pH in the studied area, as both upstream (pH = 6.89) and downstream (pH = 8.45) of the river, the pH is very close to neutrality, and the EC (33–92 μS/cm) It is elevated by mining activity along the Revuè River. After the assessment, it was observed that raising awareness among the miners, as well as the community, is crucial for the preservation of the environment and the Revuè sub-basin.