Mercury bioaccumulation in bats in Madre de Dios, Peru: implications for Hg bioindicators for tropical ecosystems impacted by artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

Portillo, Alejandro; Vega, Claudia M; Mena, Jose Luis; Bonifaz, Emilio; Ascorra, Cesar; Silman, Miles R; Fernandez, Luis E

Portillo, Alejandro; Vega, Claudia M; Mena, Jose Luis; Bonifaz, Emilio; Ascorra, Cesar; Silman, Miles R; Fernandez, Luis E.

Afiliação

Portillo A; Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Museo de Historia Natural, Paraninfo Universitario (Plaza de armas s/n), Cusco, Perú. aportilloguizado@gmail.com.
Vega CM; Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, 17000, Perú.
Mena JL; Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomédicas (INICIB), Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú.
Bonifaz E; Museo de Historia Natural Vera Alleman Haeghebaert, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru.
Ascorra C; Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, 17000, Perú.
Silman MR; Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, 17000, Perú.
Fernandez LE; Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106, USA.

Ecotoxicology ; 33(4-5): 457-469, 2024 Jul.

Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38097853

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Mercury (Hg) endangers human and wildlife health globally, primarily due to its release from artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM). During gold extraction, Hg is emitted into the environment and converted to highly toxic methylmercury by microorganisms. In Madre de Dios (MDD), Peru, ASGM dominates the economy and has transformed rainforests into expansive deforested areas punctuated by abandoned mining ponds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of bats as bioindicators for mercury pollution intensity in tropical terrestrial ecosystems impacted by ASGM. We collected 290 bat fur samples from three post-ASGM sites and one control site in Madre de Dios. Our results showed a wide Hg distribution in bats (0.001 to 117.71 mg/kg) strongly influenced by feeding habits. Insectivorous and piscivorous bats from ASGM sites presented elevated levels of Hg surpassing the mercury small mammal threshold for small mammals (10 mg/kg). We observed the highest reported fur mercury concentrations for insectivorous Neotropical bats reported to date (Rhynchonycteris naso, 117 mg/kg). Our findings further confirm that Hg emissions from ASGM are entering local food webs and exposing wildlife species at several trophic levels to higher levels of Hg than in areas not impacted by mining. We also found that three bat genera consistently showed increased Hg levels in ASGM sites relative to controls indicating potential usefulness as bioindicators of mercury loading in terrestrial ecosystems impacted by artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

Assuntos

Bioacumulação; Quirópteros; Ecossistema; Monitoramento Ambiental; Ouro; Mercúrio; Mineração; Animais; Quirópteros/metabolismo; Peru; Mercúrio/análise; Mercúrio/metabolismo; Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos; Poluentes Ambientais/metabolismo; Poluentes Ambientais/análise

Palavras-chave

ASGM; Bats; Bioindicator; Guilds; Madre de Dios; Mercury

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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Quirópteros / Monitoramento Ambiental / Ecossistema / Bioacumulação / Ouro / Mercúrio / Mineração Limite: Animals País/Região como assunto: America do sul / Peru Idioma: En Revista: Ecotoxicology Assunto da revista: SAUDE AMBIENTAL / TOXICOLOGIA Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article País de publicação: Estados Unidos

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