Arsenic in Latin America: New findings on source, mobilization and mobility in human environments in 20 countries based on decadal research 2010-2020

ARMIENTA, MARÍA AURORA; DELGADO QUEZADA, VALERIA ; TAPIA, JOSELINE ; PARRA, LUE-MERU MARCO ; GUIMARÃES GUILHERME, LUIZ ROBERTO; TOMASZEWSKA, BARBARA ; ALONSO, DAVID; LITTER, MARTA; ARMIENTA, MARÍA AURORA; DELGADO QUEZADA, VALERIA ; TAPIA, JOSELINE ; PARRA, LUE-MERU MARCO ; GUIMARÃES GUILHERME, LUIZ ROBERTO; TOMASZEWSKA, BARBARA ; ALONSO, DAVID; LITTER, MARTA; BUNDSCHUH, JOCHEN; LÓPEZ, DINA; SCHNEIDER, JERUSA ; CASTILLO, ELIANNA; ALTAMIRANO ESPINOZA, MAXIMINA ; NIAZI, KHAN NIAZI; BIEGER, KLAUS; BHATTACHARYA, PROSUN; BUNDSCHUH, JOCHEN; LÓPEZ, DINA; SCHNEIDER, JERUSA ; CASTILLO, ELIANNA; ALTAMIRANO ESPINOZA, MAXIMINA ; NIAZI, KHAN NIAZI; BIEGER, KLAUS; BHATTACHARYA, PROSUN; MORALES-SIMFORS, NURY; SEBASTIAN DIETRICH; SRACEK, ONDRA ; AYAZ ALAM, MOHAMMAD ; SOSA, NUMA; LIZAMA ALLENDE, KATHERINE ; BRANDÃO, PEDRO; AHMAD, ARSLAN ; MORALES-SIMFORS, NURY; SEBASTIAN DIETRICH; SRACEK, ONDRA ; AYAZ ALAM, MOHAMMAD ; SOSA, NUMA; LIZAMA ALLENDE, KATHERINE ; BRANDÃO, PEDRO; AHMAD, ARSLAN

CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC

Año: 2020 p. 1 - 139

1064-3389

Today(year 2020), the globally recognized problem of arsenic (As)contamination of water resources and other environments at toxiclevels has been reported in all of the 20 Latin American countries.The present review indicates that As is prevalent in 200 areas acrossthese countries. Arsenic is naturally released into the environmentand mobilized from geogenic sources comprising: (i) volcanic rocksand emissions, the latter being transported over thousands ofkilometers from the source, (ii) metallic mineral deposits, which getexposed to human beings and livestock through drinking water or foodchain, and (iii) As-rich geothermal fluids ascending from deepgeothermal reservoirs contaminates freshwater sources. The challengefor mitigation is increased manifold by mining and relatedactivities, as As from mining sites is transported by rivers overlong distances and even reaches and contaminates coastalenvironments. The recognition of the As problem by the authorities inseveral countries has led to various actions for remediation, butthere is a lack of long-term strategies for such interventions. Oftenonly total As concentration is reported, while data on As sources,mobilization, speciation, mobility and pathways are lacking which isimperative for assessing quality of any water source, i.e. public andprivate.p { direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: es-ES; font-weight: bold }p.cjk { font-family: "PMingLiU"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ar-SA; font-weight: bold }p.ctl { font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline }