First year after the Brumadinho tailings' dam collapse: Spatial and seasonal variation of trace elements in sediments, fishes and macrophytes from the Paraopeba River, Brazil

On January 2019, the B1 iron ore tailings' dam collapsed in Brumadinho, Brazil, being one of the worst mining-related disasters, with 270 human deaths (11 of them still missing) and 12.106 m3 of tailings released to the environment. The tailings devastated the C ' orrego do Feijao brook and reached the adjacent Paraopeba River, the region's main watercourse and a major tributary of the Sao Francisco basin. Although physicochemical parameters of the river were strongly impacted, and acute toxicological effects have been reported from exposure experiments, contamination of aquatic biota had not yet been assessed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate contamination by trace elements (As, Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in sediment, fish and macrophytes along the Paraopeba River, upstream and downstream from the dam failure site, during the dry and wet season. With the exception of Cd and Hg, all elements in sediment samples had lower median concentrations downstream. An inverse pattern was observed for the aquatic biota, with significant higher concentrations of Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn in fishes, and increased concentrations of most elements in macrophytes, indicating an increase in element bioavailability. A significant seasonal variation was observed with increased concentrations of As (dry season) and Pb (wet season) in fish samples, with the same trend occurring in macrophytes. Concentrations of potentially toxic elements in fish samples in wet weight (Cr: 1.80 +/- 1.31 mg kg(-1), Hg: 0.21 +/- 0.11 mg kg(-1) and Pb: 0.79 +/- 0.80 mg kg(-1)) were lower than those reported before the disaster. Furthermore, As and Pb concentrations exceeded the safety threshold for fish consumption in 3% and 41% of samples, respectively, representing a matter of concern for public health.

Automated summary

The collapse of the B1 iron ore tailings dam in Brazil caused 270 deaths and released a large amount of tailings into the environment, affecting the Paraopeba River and aquatic biota. The study found that most elements in sediment had lower concentrations downstream, while aquatic biota showed higher concentrations, indicating an increase in element bioavailability.