1.
Bull Environ Contam Toxicol
; 100(2): 259-264, 2018 Feb.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29147740
RESUMO
Soil mercury concentrations at a typical small-scale mine site in the Bolivian Andes were elevated (28-737 mg/kg or ppm) in localized areas where mercury amalgams were either formed or vaporized to release gold, but was not detectable beyond approximately 10 m from its sources. Arsenic was measurable, exceeding known background levels throughout the mine site (77-137,022 ppm), and was also measurable through the local village of Ingenio (36-1803 ppm). Although arsenic levels were high at all surveyed locations, its spatial pattern followed mercury, being highest where mercury was high.