Phytoremediation potential of Terminalia catappa trees in an area impacted by the Mariana disaster

• Grant number: 22/12738-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Alexys Giorgia Friol Boim
• Grantee: Aparecida da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

When dealing with the release of potentially toxic elements (EPTs) into the environment, often irreversible damage is caused to the integrity of the environment and human health. Phytoremediation proves to be an innovative and effective alternative for the mitigation of EPT contamination and interest in it is increasing as it is an ecologically viable and low-cost solution. Considered the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Brazil and one of the main ones in the world, the Fundão dam failure in 2015 caused great economic, social and environmental damage. The release of more than 60 million cubic meters of tailings containing mainly iron oxides into the Rio Doce contaminates not only the place where the dam broke, but the entire adjacent region. Knowing that the present vegetation interacts directly with the soil, affecting the release of these EPTs or accumulating them, as in the case of phytoremediation species, the objective of the present work will be to understand the current contamination of the Rio Doce estuary through soil-plant interaction. of the species Terminalia catappa, to evaluate the interaction of EPTs present in the soil and their distribution in the roots, leaves, stems, branches and fruits of the plant and its potential for phytoremediation.