Arsenic groundwater content in rural areas from Mendoza, Argentina?

A. PEREZ CARRERA; E. ABRAHAM; M. SALOMON; A. FERNANDEZ CIRELLI

Ciudad de Valencia, España

Congreso; International Congress As2008 ?Arsenic in the Environment: from Nature to Humans?; 2008

International Society of Groundwater for Sustainable Development

The Chaco Pampean Plain of central Argentina constitutes one of the largest regions of high arsenic groundwaters known, covering around 1x106 km2 (Smedley and Kinniburgh, 2002). High concentrations of arsenic have been documented from several densely populated provinces, where agriculture is one of the main activities. However, there are scarce data from other regions such as the arid area of central-west Argentina (provinces of Mendoza and San Juan). The high-As groundwaters in the pampean plains are from Quaternary deposits of loess (mainly silt) with intermixed rhyolitic or dacitic volcanic ash (Nicolli et al. 1989). It is well recognized that consumption of arsenic, even at low levels, leads to carcinogenesis. The aim of the present study was the determination of arsenic content in livestock drinking water from goat production systems located in the Lavalle department in the north of Mendoza province.