Assessment of hydrological, geological, and biological parameters of a river basin impacted by old Hg mining in NW Spain.

ABSTRACT: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that can cause adverse effects for the health of ecosystems. The Caudal River is one of the main rivers in the Asturias region (NW Spain), whose basin is highly anthropized, hosting several Hg mines, closed in the last century. Arsenic (As) is also found in the mineral paragenesis of the Hg deposits, posing a greater environmental risk. In the mining sites, remaining old facilities and tailings continue to release these elements into the environment. In this work, samples of fluvial sediments and water were taken, both in areas affected by anthropic activity and in pristine areas, in order to establish the background levels for the critical elements. The mineralogical study of the sediments, combined with EDS microanalysis, is useful to identify mineralogical

SUBMITTER: Escudero L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10850224 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature