Distribuição de mercúrio total como indicador de poluição urbana e industrial na costa brasileira

The monitoring of the pollution status of the Brazilian coast is hampered by the lack of a consistent environmental indicator. We propose Hg as an environmental proxy to anthropogenic pollution of coastal regions due to its absence in the Brazilian geology, its ubiquity in anthropogenic effluents, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marins Rozane V., Paula Filho Francisco José de, Maia Saulo Robério Rodrigues, Lacerda Luiz Drude de, Marques Wanessa Sousa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2004-01-01
Series:Química Nova
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422004000500016
Description
Summary:The monitoring of the pollution status of the Brazilian coast is hampered by the lack of a consistent environmental indicator. We propose Hg as an environmental proxy to anthropogenic pollution of coastal regions due to its absence in the Brazilian geology, its ubiquity in anthropogenic effluents, and its toxicity. Available data suggest Hg "backgrounds" in coastal sediments of 1-10 ng g-1, in the East and 15-30 ng g-1 in the South. We suggest short sediment cores to establish these values estimating a geo-accumulation index to compare all areas. The distribution of index values showed the majority of southern coast at least moderately contaminated whereas many eastern areas are still pristine.
ISSN:0100-4042
1678-7064