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In the industrial corridor of Boyacá, Colombia, population growth is accompanied by anthropogenic activities such as industrial operations, vehicle exhaust fumes, mining, smelting, atmospheric deposition, and excessive use of chemical products to promote crop growth. These activities are known to have a significant impact on urban and rural soils, contributing significantly to elevated concentrations of potentially hazardous elements in the environment. This industrial corridor is an area of economic and social development that needs to provide reference information that will allow us to know the state of soil quality to preserve and manage the public and geoenvironmental health of this region. Anthropogenic activities have contributed to the accumulation of potentially hazardous elements in the environment, affecting various levels of life and creating risks with economic and social implications. However, igneous activity or detrital deposition also enriches soils and creates geochemical anomalies in specific locations. In these cases, the identification of potentially hazardous elements involves the determination of likely sources of contamination and their relationship to the geological setting. In this study, the concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Mn, Fe, Zn, Hg, Cu and Ni were determined in eighty-one soil samples from the Boyacá industrial corridor (Colombia). The sequential trend of the concentrations of potentially hazardous elements was as follows: Fe > Mn > Zn > Ni > Cu> Pb > As > Cd > Hg. Furthermore, the application of spatial analysis criteria in GIS software with multivariate statistical tools and geochemical indices allowed the identification of anthropogenic and geogenic sources. Most of the potentially hazardous elements were found in soils exposed to industrial and agricultural activities, except for iron. This element showed low variability in all samples, regardless of the geological formations. Due to the lack of reference values for potentially hazardous elements in Colombia, the concentrations were compared with the environmental standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAE). The results demonstrate the complexity of the soil and represent the first exploratory study of potentially hazardous elements in this industrial corridor. These results are the starting point for the establishment of geochemical background lines in Colombia and for inspection policies for areas where productive activities converge.

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The Amazon River is the longest river in the world. The Tapajós River is a tributary to the Amazon. At their junction, a marked decrease in water quality is evident from negative impacts from the constant activity of clandestine gold mining in the Tapajós River watershed. The accumulation of hazardous elements (HEs), capable of compromising environmental quality across large regions is evident in the waters of the Tapajós. Sentinel-3B OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) Level-2 satellite imagery with Water Full Resolution (WFR) of 300 m was utilized to detect the highest potential for the absorption coefficient of detritus and gelbstoff in 443 m-1 (ADG443_NN), chlorophyll-a (CHL_NN) and total suspended matter concentration (TSM_NN), at 25 points in the Amazon and Tapajós rivers (in 2019 and 2021). Physical samples of riverbed sediment collected in the field at the same locations were analyzed for NPs and ultra-fine particles to verify the geospatial findings. The riverbed sediment samples collected in the field were studied by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), with selected area electron diffraction (SAED), following laboratory analytical procedures. The Sentinel-3B OLCI images, based on the Neural Network (NN) were calibrated by the European Space Agency (ESA), with a standard average normalization of 0.83 µg/mg, containing a maximum error of 6.62% applied to the sampled points. The analysis of the riverbed sediment samples revealed the presence of the following hazardous elements: As, Hg, La, Ce, Th, Pb, Pd, among several others. The Amazon River has significant potential to transport ADG443_NN (55.475 m-1) and TSM_NN (70.787 gm-3) in sediments, with the possibility of negatively impacting marine biodiversity, in addition to being harmful to human health over very large regions.

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BACKGROUND: Environmental surveys have characterized trace elements such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) as potential risk factors for non-communicable diseases. There have been few studies conducted in the Caribbean region to explore, define or clarify such findings locally. Furthermore, local pollution control efforts are often juxtaposed against more seemingly immediate economic concerns in poor communities. OBJECTIVES: The present commentary is a call to action for the evaluation of potentially hazardous elements as potential risk indicators and/or factors of common noncommunicable diseases in the Caribbean. DISCUSSION: Findings from Jamaican studies have identified exposure to potentially hazardous elements (PHE) via water, food, and other anthropogenic activities to the detriment of the resident population. Several attempts have been made to abate toxic metal exposure in children with relative success. However, high levels of PHE have been noted in vulnerable populations such as patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. Currently, there is low priority towards infrastructure building within the Caribbean region that would promote and sustain long term monitoring and better inform environmental polices impacting chronic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Further investigations are needed to clarify the role that PHE play in increasing the risk or progression of non-communicable diseases, especially in vulnerable groups. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Anthropogenic occurring nanoparticles (NPs) have been one of the principal catalytic components of marine pollution throughout its history. The phosphogypsum (PG) factories present environmental risks and evident marine pollution in different parts of the world. Many of these factors continue to operate, however, some have already been abandoned by the private sector. The general objective of this manuscript is to analyze the real nanoparticles (NPs) present on a beach in southern Brazil to illustrate the need to create public policies and projects for environmental recovery. This work focused on real representative sampling of suspended sediments (SSs), and on a modern analytical procedure via advanced electron microscopes (field emission scanning electron microscope-FE-SEM and high resolution transmission electron microscope-HR-TEM coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis system-EDS) to analyze NPs containing hazardous elements (HEs). The results presented in this work demonstrate who the size, morphology, among other physical-geochemical characteristics influence in the adsorption of HEs by the NPs and their respective agglomerates. This study is of great importance for carrying out the application of advanced techniques and methods to better understand the formation and transport of NPs on beaches, which allows assisting in the management of waste from plaster factories on a global scale.

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Risk assessment is considered an essential tool to assist in the management and mitigation of polluted areas, especially those associated with economic activities that significantly degrade the environment, such as mining. However, most of the methodologies of risk assessment adopt the deterministic approach of using a fixed value for ascertaining the hazards derived from exposure to chemical pollutants. However, this is not the case of the Human, Ecological and Radiological Risk (HERisk) code, which allows space-time assessments of ecological, radiological, and human health risks. Indeed, this work aims to describe this new software (enhanced version of HHRISK), which not only improves the performance of the code but also increases its applicability and versatility. To showcase its usefulness in evaluating ecological pollution and human health risk were studied the contents of potentially toxic elements (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in soils and surface waters from the nickel mining area in the municipality of Itagibá (Bahia, Brazil). The obtained results showed that metals are non-homogeneous distributed, suggesting the presence of local enrichment sources, mainly related to human activities. The statistical analyses carried out revealed that mining and agricultural activities are possibly responsible for the contents of these pollutants in both soils and surface waters. The calculated ecological indices of pollution confirmed anthropogenic pollution around the mining area, especially in the locations closest to sterile waste piles. The results of the human health risk assessment revealed that the ingestion of meat and contaminated water are the main routes for entering the potentially toxic elements to the human body and that Co is the chemical specie that poses the highest risk in the entire region. The hazard index (HI) values indicated that the whole area around the mine should be considered as a high risk for human health.

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The contamination of bodies of water by potentially hazardous elements has in recent decades become an environmental problem that poses serious risks to humans, fauna, flora and microbiota, compromising the quality of life of the present ecosystem. Therefore, effluents must be properly treated in a legally acceptable manner before their disposal in the environment. With this in mind, adsorption presents itself as an inexpensive efficient technique for the removal of potentially hazardous elements from effluents with excellent adsorption capacities when natural adsorbents are used. In this study, fava d'anta fodder was used in its crude and alkalinized form to remove Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions. Equilibrium studies were carried out using adsorption isotherms in batch systems with mono- and multi-elementary systems containing the two ions. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to the isotherm studies, with the ions being better suited to the Langmuir model, with maximum adsorption capacities of 24.45 mg g-1 and 68.49 mg g-1 (crude form) and 11.12 mg g-1 and 35.34 mg g-1 (alkalinized form) in the mono-elementary system for Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions, respectively.

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The present work investigates hazardous elements and nanomineralogical assemblages of phosphogypsum waste from an abandoned phosphate fertilizer industry located in Santa Catarina state (Brazil). Correlations between the chemical composition, nanominerals, and ultrafine particles are discussed. Multifaceted physical-geochemical study provided a careful understanding of the nanomineralogical assemblage of the phosphogypsum waste. The electron beam investigation revealed the presence of many hazardous elements in the ultrafine particles. Cr, Pb, Mn, Se, Sr, and Zr, among others, were found in individual ultrafine particles and nanominerals in all studied samples. Besides that, rare earth elements were found in different concentration ranges, being Ce, La, and Nd, the rare earth elements, found in the higher concentrations, above 900 mg kg-1. The data supplied by this article are important to characterize the phosphogypsum waste, assessing the potential hazard to the environment and human health, and also, provides information to enable the designing of alternatives to manage this waste.

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The morphology and composition of roots with different degrees of oxidation as a function of time were evaluated aiming to identify possible hazardous elements and nanoparticles. The roots were obtained from an abandoned coal mine located in the city of Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil. From the roots, analyses were performed to identify nanoparticles (NPs) and ultrafine particles (UFPs), containing possible hazardous elements (PHEs) that cause potential environmental risks and impacts on human health. The identification of nanoscale materials requires greater robustness, so advanced integrated techniques have been used. The characterization of different types of roots was done by using focused ion beam (FIB), to evaluate nano-compound assemblies with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (HR-TEM/EDS). The results showed the presence of NPs containing Hg, Co, Cr, Ni, and V. The presence of these elements has increased consistently with the increase of C concentration in the roots, suggesting that the PHEs were gradually released from organic matter and inorganic minerals of coal. However, even with their decrease in roots, it was found that these elements still remained in the soil in significant quantities, even after 15 years of inactivation of the coal mine.

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Information on the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on topsoil around coal power plants (CPPs) is still very limited. In the present work, the influences of MWCNTs on potential hazardous elements (PHEs) and environmental carbonaceous compounds in agrarian topsoil around CPPs of Latin America were investigated. The environmentally elevated proportions of MWCNTs and PHEs can cause damage to developing a fetus. The ecological impacts of industrial energy byproducts generated by MWCNTs were also studied. The surface morphologies of MWCNTs and PHEs detected in topsoil samples were analyzed by advanced electron microscopy in a combination of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The alterations could be originated due to the different geophysical constituents and superficial structure, which in turn disturbed their geoavailability in studied topsoil. It was found that a large amount of MWCNTs and amorphous carbonaceous matters, which are responsible for adsorbing PHEs, existed in soils around CPPs. Hence, these findings could be used to better understand the geochemical properties of PHEs near CPPs.

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Soils around coal mining are important reservoir of hazardous elements (HEs), nanominerals, and ultrafine compounds. This research reports and discusses the soil concentrations of HEs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in coal residues of abandoned mines. To assess differences regarding environmental impact and risk assessment between coal abandoned mines from the Santa Catarina state, eighteen coal cleaning rejects with different mineralogical and chemical composition, from eight abandoned mines were collected. Nanominerals and ultra-fine minerals from mining-contaminated areas were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), providing new information on the mineralogy and nano-mineralogy of these coal residues. The total contents of 57 elements (HEs, alkali metals, and rare earth elements) were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The calculation of NWACs (Normalized Average Weighted Concentration), together with the chemometric analysis by Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the variability of the samples regarding their city and their mine of origin. Moreover, the results confirmed the existence of hotspots in mines near urban areas.

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Ultrafine and nanometric sediment inputs into river systems can be a major source of nutrients and hazardous elements and have a strong impact on water quality and ecosystem functions of rivers and lakes regions. However, little is known to date about the spatial distribution of sediment sources in most large scale river basins in South America. The objective of this work was to study the coal cleaning rejects (CCRs) spill that occurred from a CCRs impoundment pond into the Tubarão River, South Brazil, provided a unique occasion to study the importance and role of incidental nanoparticles associated with pollutant dispersal from a large-scale, acute aquatic pollution event. Multifaceted geochemical research by X-ray diffraction (XRD), High Resolution-Transmission Electron microscopy (HR-TEM)/(Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) EDS/(selected-area diffraction pattern) SAED, Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM)/EDS, and Raman spectroscopy, provided an in-depth understanding of importance of a nano-mineralogy approach of Aqueous Pollution Scenarios. The electron beam studies showed the presence of a number of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) in nanoparticles (amorphous and minerals). Some of the neoformed ultrafine/nanoparticles found in the contaminated sediments are the same as those commonly associated with oxidation/transformation of oxides, silicates, sulfides, and sulfates. These data of the secondary ultra/nanoparticles, puts in evidence their ability to control the mobility of PHEs, suggesting possible presentations in environmental technology, including recuperation of sensitive coal mine. The developed methodology facilitated the sediment transport of the catchment providing consistent results and suggesting its usefulness as a tool for temporary rivers management.

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This study has provided an initial assessment of the environmental impacts and potential health effects associated with coal fly ash produced during diesel co-firing. Many hazardous elements that are typically detected by multifaceted chemical characterization by XRD, petrology, FE-SEM/EDS, and HR-TEM/SEAD/FFT/EDS in ultra-fine compounds and nanominerals from the co-fired coal fly ashes (CFAs). It provided an in-depth understanding of coal ash produced during diesel co-firing. Several of the neoformed ultra-fine compounds and nano-minerals found in the coal ashes are the same as those commonly associated with oxidation/transformation of aluminosilicates, carbonates, sulphides and phosphates.

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