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In 2019, there was an environmental catastrophe in Brazil, when more than 5000 tons of unknown origin crude oil invaded beaches and mangroves. Two years later, two monitoring areas were selected to study seahorses' offspring: Massangana River estuary (apparently healthy area) and Cocaia Island (affected area). Thirty-six reproductive events of Hippocampus reidi (Syngnathidae) couples from these two areas were monitored to analyze the offspring. At the apparently healthy area, no newborns with malformations were found. However, the offspring from Cocaia Island showed a mean of 19.73% (±5.23) malformations in newborns. It is argued that the toxic/teratogenic effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have affected the population in two ways: directly through the induction of mutations in the germ cells of the species and through a drastic reduction of the population (bottleneck effect) whose density observed today recovered through consanguineous couplings, potentiating deleterious genotypes in the offspring. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:1996-2004. © 2024 SETAC.

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The Samarco/Vale/BHP mine tailing dam breach that took place in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, in 2015, deposited high concentrations of metals and metalloids in the Rio Doce basin, severely impacting freshwater and riverine forest ecosystems. To assess developmental instability of caddisflies in response to the environmental impacts of the dam breach, we investigated the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in the species Smicridea (Rhyacophylax) coronata (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). FA was assessed at individual and populational scales using geometric morphometric methods in the cephalic capsule and mandibles of larvae and also on the forewings of adults, both collected under the impacted condition, and under the least disturbed condition. The levels of FA increased in response to stressors on the forewings at the populational scale, and on the mandibles, at individual scale. These morphological variations in the larval and adult stages may lead to detrimental effects and result in high mortality rates as well as lower adult fitness. Trichoptera forewings are revealed as suitable traits for assessing FA, holding potential for applications in biomonitoring programs. Directional asymmetry levels were higher than FA levels for all traits, and this correlation could be explained by a transition from fluctuating to directional asymmetry in the presence of heightened disturbance. Our results validate the relationship between the impacts from the dam breach and increased developmental instability in this species with likely cascade effects on the insect community.

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The Fundão Dam failure has been the most significant environmental disaster in Brazil. The catastrophe released large amounts of mining waste into the environment, including toxic metals/metalloids, which are recognized to induce carcinogenic effects. The urinary levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG), a widely accepted oxidative stress and carcinogenesis biomarker, provide a potential tool for assessing the disaster's health implications. This study investigated the association between urinary levels of some toxic metals/metalloids and 8OHdG in Brazilian individuals living in areas affected by the Fundão dam failure. Urinary concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, while 8OHdG was analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Non-parametric bootstrap regression was used to estimate the associations between the urinary levels of toxic elements and 8OHdG. The results showed that except for Hg, urinary concentrations of all metals/metalloids analyzed here exceeded the reference ranges for the Brazilian population. The regression analysis revealed that As (0.337; CI 95%: 0.203; 0.474), Cd (0.268; CI 95%: 0.036; 0.520), and Ni (0.296; CI 950.108; 0.469) were positively associated with creatinine-adjusted urinary 8OHdG levels. Associations were not found for Hg (0.0122; CI 95%: -0.155; 0.183) and Pb (0.201; CI 95%: -0.040; 0.498). The current findings suggest that high exposure to toxic metals/metalloids might increase 8OHdG levels with potential adverse health effects. This study is the first one in which the relationship between toxic metals/metalloids and oxidative stress biomarkers is investigated in populations affected by environmental disasters. Further prospective studies are necessary to monitor exposure levels and explore additional health impacts.

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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.591601.].

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The Fundão Dam rupture released tons of iron ore tailings into the environment. This study analyzes the long-term impacts and provides a possible scenario of Doce River (DR) plume dispersion. For this, water and surface sediment were collected in November 2019 along three Brazilian states to determine metal concentrations and δ13C and δ15N compositions. The δ13Csediment values of the DR plume showed a dispersion pattern mainly to the north but also in areas closer to the south of the DR mouth. Furthermore, the most negative values of δ13C and δ15N were observed in mud, followed by suspended particulate matter, sediment and the dissolved fraction, indicating that geological matrices are involved in the transport of organic matter coupled to metals to the ocean and pointing to the DR as the main source of metals in the region. Thus, this study highlights the need for continuous studies to monitor the environmental and biological conditions in these areas.

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O desastre socioambiental, ocorrido em Mariana, em consequência do rompimento da barragem de Fundão da mineradora Samarco, devastou as comunidades de Bento Rodrigues e de Paracatu de Baixo provocando perdas e danos que podem se desdobrar ao longo do tempo, produzindo efeitos profundos na saúde, no meio ambiente, bem como no contexto de vida e trabalho. Com isso, busca-se analisar o processo saúde-doença e o processo de trabalho nos serviços de saúde destinados à população atingida pelo desastre socioambiental em Mariana. Trata-se de um estudo de caso conduzido pela abordagem qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória, cujo cenário é Mariana, onde se encontram as comunidades diretamente atingidas pelo rompimento da barragem de rejeito de mineração. As fontes de evidências utilizadas foram documentos de domínio público e entrevistas com profissionais de saúde e gestores. Foram escolhidas intencionalmente a Unidade de Saúde de Bento Rodrigues e o dispositivo Conviver, por atenderem exclusivamente as famílias vítimas do desastre. Participaram da pesquisa onze profissionais de saúde e três gestores. Os dados foram analisados por meio da estratégia de proposições teóricas à luz da teoria de Determinação Social do Processo Saúde-Doença. Os resultados revelaram as implicações do desastre nas condições sociais, econômicas, culturais e sobretudo na saúde da população atingida, com consequências relacionadas aos agravos respiratórios e os ocasionados por veiculação hídrica ou contato com a lama toxica de rejeito, e os casos depressivos e demais transtornos psicossociais que intensificaram o sofrimento crônico da população. Já as implicações do desastre no processo de trabalho nos serviços de atendimento exclusivo aos atingidos, evidenciam uma (re)organização do sistema de saúde, o qual enfrentou dificuldades estruturais tanto na fase emergencial quanto de recuperação pós-desastre. Destaca-se que embora os instrumentos do processo de trabalho utilizados pelos profissionais de saúde e gestores, são capazes de acolher, estimular práticas mais integradas e que transcendem a intervenção apenas nos corpos biológicos, ainda assim não são capazes de suprir as necessidades mediadas de saúde dos atingidos, não promovendo respostas às necessidades políticas, sociais e econômicas no que tange à reparação, à indenização e os direitos da população atingida.

The socio-environmental disaster that occurred in Mariana, because of the collapse of the Samarco mining company's Fundão dam, devastated the communities of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo, causing losses and damages that can unfold over time, producing profound effects on health, in the environment, as well as in the context of life and work. With this, we seek to analyze the health-disease process and the work process in health services intended for the population affected by the socio-environmental disaster in Mariana. This is a case study conducted using a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory approach, whose setting is Mariana, where the communities directly affected by the collapse of the mining tailings dam are located. The sources of evidence used were public domain documents and interviews with health professionals and managers. The Bento Rodrigues Health Unit and the Conviver device were intentionally chosen, as they exclusively serve families who were victims of the disaster. Eleven health professionals and three managers participated in the research. The data were analyzed using the strategy of theoretical propositions in light of the theory of Social Determination of the HealthDisease Process. The results revealed the implications of the disaster on social, economic, cultural conditions and above all on the health of the affected population, with consequences related to respiratory problems and those caused by water transport or contact with toxic waste sludge, and depressive cases and other disorders, psychosocial problems that intensified the chronic suffering of the population. The implications of the disaster on the work process in services providing exclusive care to those affected highlight a (re) organization of the health system, which faced structural difficulties in both the emergency and postdisaster recovery phases. It is noteworthy that although the work process instruments used by health professionals and managers are capable of welcoming and stimulating more integrated practices, that transcend intervention only in biological bodies, they are still not capable of meeting mediated health needs of those affected, failing to promote responses to political, social and economic needs in terms of reparation, compensation and the rights of the affected population.

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Currently, more than five years after the Fundão dam failure in Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Brachiaria decumbens Stapf. is the main grass in pasturelands affected by the mining tailings. The aim of this study was to investigate the reason for this fact as well as to determine the ecophysiological effects of mining tailings on B. decumbens and to test whether mixing the tailings with unaffected local soil enhances the affected soil properties. For the experiment, two different soils were collected, one unaffected soil without mining tailings (Ref) and the mining tailings (Tec), and we also created a mixture with 50 % of each soil type (Ref/Tec). We cultivated B. decumbens in the three soil treatments in a greenhouse for 110 days and evaluated soil physical-chemical properties and plant ecophysiology. Our results show that the tailings (Tec) compromised the normal ecophysiological state of B. decumbens. The species survived these adverse conditions due to its great efficiency in acquiring some elements. The soil management tested by this work mitigated the stress caused by tailings and can represent an alternative for the environmental recovery of the affected soils.

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The effects of exposure to mining tailings on water quality and biota of tropical lacustrine ecosystems remain poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that after mining tailing spills, shallow lakes should retain higher metal concentrations in comparison with deep lakes, which might contribute to differentiating species sorting and community structure of zooplankton in both ecosystems. Surveys were performed in 6 Brazilian lakes affected by the Fundão dam failure from October 2018 to September 2019. The shallow lakes showed higher values of turbidity (19.4 ± 12.9 NTU), conductivity (846.5 ± 1727.1 µS.cm-1), total organic carbon (11.6 ± 4.6 mg.L-1), total nitrogen (2688.7 ± 2215.6 µg.L-1), iron (2507.5 ± 726.9 µg.L-1), aluminum (419.9 ± 166.5 µg.L-1) and manganese (150.8 ± 146.2 µg.L-1) and lower zooplankton richness (9.2 ± 3.2) compared to the deep lakes (13.4 ± 3.0), which showed higher cyanobacteria density (84.7 103 ± 69.3 103 cel.mL-1). We recorded negative relationships between zooplankton richness and turbidity, conductivity, iron, zinc and vanadium, indicating that as well as morphometric characteristics of lakes (area and depth) have an important role in zooplankton richness, the coupling between metals and limnological variables represent decisive environmental filters for species sorting of zooplankton. The variation-partitioning analysis showed that limnological variables and metals explained zooplankton composition, highlighting that metals play major influence on zooplankton composition. We suggest that the shallowness of the lakes should had promoted often resuspension of mining tailings that caused increases in metal concentrations in water column. The results indicate that the shallow lakes presented higher vulnerability to mining tailings exposure than the deep lakes, which may have substantially contributed for differentiating zooplankton communities in both ecosystems. This study reveals the need for considering shallow lakes as priority target for conservation among freshwater ecosystems affected by mining tailings.

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This study aimed to evaluate the harmful effects of metal accumulation on Astyanax lacustris and their biochemical response when exposed to the metals contained in the Doce River water, Brazil. The study was carried out in the Baixo Guandu region of the Doce River, Espírito Santo state. Samples were collected during the dry and wet seasons. Biochemical alterations were observed in the liver of A. lacustris, with apparent seasonal effects directly related to the high concentration of Al and Fe in this tissue. Despite this, the bioconcentration of metals in the organisms showed seasonal effects only in the gills, as they are the first organ in contact with the contaminated water. The data generated in this study provide an overview of the health of the ecosystem in this region, highlighting the harmful biochemical and metal concentration effects on the population of A. lacustris affected by the Fundão dam failure.

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The collapse of mining tailing dams in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, that occurred in 2019 was one of the worst environmental and social disasters witnessed in the country. In this sense, monitoring any impacted areas both before and after the disaster is crucial to understand the actual scenario and problems of disaster management and environmental impact assessment. In order to find answers to that problem, the aim of this study was to identify and analyze the spatiality of the impacted area by rupture of the tailing dam of the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, by using orbital remote sensing. Land use and land occupation, phytoplankton chlorophyll-a, water turbidity, total suspended solids on water, and carbon sequestration efficiency by vegetation (CO2Flux) were estimated by orbital imagery from the Landsat-8/OLI and MSI/Sentinel-2 sensors in order to assess the environmental impacts generated by the disaster. Data were extracted from spectral models in which the variables that best demonstrated the land use variation over the years were sought. Mean comparison by t-test was performed to compare the time series analyzed, that is, before and after the disaster. Through the analysis of water quality, it was observed that the environmental impact was calamitous to natural resources, especially water from Córrego do Feijão.

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