Severe impacts of the Brumadinho dam failure (Minas Gerais, Brazil) on the water quality of the Paraopeba River

Fabiano Thompson; Braulio Cherene de Oliveira; Marcelle Candido Cordeiro; Bruno P Masi; Thiago Pessanha Rangel; Pedro Paz; Thamyres Freitas; Grasiele Lopes; Bruno Sergio Silva; Anderson S Cabral; Maria Soares; Diego Lacerda; Cristiane Dos Santos Vergilio; Mônica Lopes-Ferreira; Carla Lima; Cristiane Thompson; Carlos Eduardo de Rezende

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135914

Severe impacts of the Brumadinho dam failure (Minas Gerais, Brazil) on the water quality of the Paraopeba River

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Feb 25:705:135914. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135914. Epub 2019 Dec 5.

Authors

Fabiano Thompson¹, Braulio Cherene de Oliveira², Marcelle Candido Cordeiro³, Bruno P Masi³, Thiago Pessanha Rangel², Pedro Paz³, Thamyres Freitas³, Grasiele Lopes³, Bruno Sergio Silva³, Anderson S Cabral³, Maria Soares³, Diego Lacerda², Cristiane Dos Santos Vergilio⁴, Mônica Lopes-Ferreira⁵, Carla Lima⁵, Cristiane Thompson³, Carlos Eduardo de Rezende⁶

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Biologia e Núcleo Professor Rogerio Valle de Produção Sustentável-SAGE/COPPE, Centro de Gestão Tecnológica-CT2, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address: fabianothompson1@gmail.com.
² Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro 28.013-602, Brazil.
³ Instituto de Biologia e Núcleo Professor Rogerio Valle de Produção Sustentável-SAGE/COPPE, Centro de Gestão Tecnológica-CT2, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratório de Ecotoxicologia, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e da Saú, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Alegre, Espírito Santo CEP: 29500-000, Brazil.
⁵ Immunoregulation Unit of the Special Laboratory of Applied Toxinology (Center of Toxins Immune-Response and Cell Signaling), Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁶ Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Parque Califórnia, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro 28.013-602, Brazil. Electronic address: crezende@uenf.br.

PMID: 31838417
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135914

Abstract

On 25 January 2019, Córrego do Feijão's tailing dam at Brumadinho city (Minas Gerais, Brazil) breached, leaving over 250 people dead. At least 12 million cubic meters of ore tailing were spread into Paraopeba River and the surrounding area. To evaluate the short-term impacts of the Brumadinho dam rupture on the environment, we performed biogeochemical, microbiological and ecotoxicological analyses across 464 km of the Paraopeba River in the week following the disaster (1 February 2019) and four months latter (27-29 May 2019). Immediately after the disaster, the water turbidity was 3000 NTU, 30 times greater than the standard recommended by the Brazilian Resolution for Water Quality (CONAMA 357). Up to a 60-fold increase in iron tolerant microbial colony forming unities was observed up to 115 km downstream of the dam failure in May 2019 (compared with February 2019), suggesting changes in microbial metabolic profiles. In the second sampling (May 2019), the ecotoxicological analyses indicate higher zebrafish embryo mortality (up to ~85% embryo mortality) rates in Retiro Baixo (304 km from dam failure location). However, increased zebrafish mortality in Retiro Baixo and Três Marias reservoirs may not be related exclusively to the dam failure. The causal nexus of mortality may be associated with other factors (e.g. local sewage pollution). Our study suggests that independent monitoring programs are needed to quantify the extent of potential impacts caused by the anthropogenic use of the river and to promote the recovery of the impacted area.

Keywords: Brumadinho dam; Mining disaster; Paraopeba River; Water quality.