Analysis of the Geochemistry of the background sediments the Cotunguba River, Feira Nova-pe, according to parameters of the Conama Resolution 344/2004

Abstract

The release of untreated effluents in accordance with current legislation, as well as carrying them through rains, pesticides used in farms and agricultural areas, aims to analyze the quality of sediments and the level of toxicity with trace metals. Existing on the Cotunguba River, Feira Nova - PE, since, together with the Capibaribe River, they feed the Carpina Dam, a source of water supply for approximately 250 thousand inhabitants. The analysis of the samples of these sediments took place through collections in 4 strategically positioned points, previously treated in the Environmental Analysis Department of the University of Pernambuco and sent to the Sediment Analysis Laboratory of the University of Ontario - Canada, for cataloging the minerals as well. As for detecting trace metals with potential for pollution, using the methods FUS-ICP (Plasma Coupled by Fusion Induction), TD-ICP (Plasma Inductively Coupled by Total Digestion) and INAA (Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis), adopted in the CONAMA parameters. At all collection points, it was observed that the level of sediment contamination, for some elements, already has levels above the recommended, in particular, mercury and lead, giving rise to mitigation actions, while, in others, the level of toxicity behaves within the parameters set by the environmental control bodies, both in Brazil and in the world. The consolidation of the results indicates that although one of the metals (Hg) is above the recommended parameters, most of them are below or within the range of acceptability for this type of contamination.