Total Mercury in Plant Tissue from a Mining Landscape in Western Mexico.
Bull Environ Contam Toxicol
; 102(1): 19-24, 2019 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30426141
ABSTRACT
Environmental impacts of mining activities are well known, particularly on-site degradation, but long term effects are less known. Mercury content from vegetation samples from a mine dump and surrounding forests was quantified for understanding the fate of this element in the local the environment. The study area, Tlalpujahua, Michoacán, México, has a mining history going back more than 400 years. Including gold and silver extraction by means of mercury amalgamation for 352 years (1554-1906). Mercury was present in all sampled materials. The highest values correspond to wood samples from the mine dump (13.84 ± 3.88 ppm), while wood samples from adjacent forests had 4.3 ± 2.4 ppm, almost twice as much as coniferous needles, shrub leaves and corn seeds (2.2 ± 0.34 ppm). The highest concentration was found for J. deppeana wood (16.05 ± 2.3 ppm). The capacity of accumulating mercury by Juniperus trees when growing on the mine dumps suggests that this species has a potential to be used for biosequestration purposes.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Juniperus
/
Contaminantes Ambientales
/
Mercurio
/
Minería
País/Región como asunto:
Mexico
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Bull Environ Contam Toxicol
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
México