Biochar mitigates bioavailability and environmental risks of arsenic in gold mining tailings from the eastern Amazon.

ABSTRACT

Artisanal gold mining has generated tailings highly contaminated by arsenic (As) in Cachoeira do Piriá, eastern Amazon, leading to severe risks to the environment. Such risks should be mitigated considering the bioavailable concentration of the element, since it implies immediate damage to the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of biochars in mitigating the environmental risks of bioavailable As concentrations in gold mining tailings from underground and cyanidation exploration. The biochar addition increased mineral components, cation retention, phosphorus in all fractions, and organic and inorganic carbon. The bioavailability of As was reduced after adding the biochars, following the order palm kernel cake biochar > Brazil nut shell biochar > açaí seed biochar, with reductions of up to 13 mg kg-1 in the underground mining tailings and 17 mg kg-1 in the cyanidation mining tailings. These results contributed to the statistically significant reduction of the environmental risks in both mining tailings (6-17% in the underground mining tailings and 9-20% in the cyanidation mining tailings), which was emphasized by Pearson's correlation and multivariate analyzes. The incorporation of the bioavailable fractions of As (from sequential extraction) in the environmental risk assessment was a promising method for evaluating the efficiency of biochars in mitigating the damage caused by this metalloid in gold mining tailings.