The Cágado-de-barbicha (Phrynops geoffroanus) as a model for assessing the presence and intensity of metal contamination.

• Grant number: 24/04961-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Gislene Torrente Vilara
• Grantee: Camila da Silva Praita
• Host Institution: Instituto do Mar (IMar). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Monitoring aquatic environments has become increasingly necessary for assessing changes in concentrations of chemical elements in the water, which can impact biodiversity as a whole. The issue of environmental contamination by industrial waste is recurrent, with the main factors being the rupture of dams containing highly toxic mineral residues harmful to human and animal health. Therefore, it is necessary to examine species that spend a significant portion of their lives in contaminated environments, as they are part of the local food chain and population dynamics, in order to analyze the concentration of contaminants in their body composition. For this case study of the 2019 Brumadinho dam collapse, Phrynops geoffroanus (Cágado-de-barbicha) from the Paraopeba River (the area most affected by mineral waste) will be used as a witness of changes in concentrations of chemical elements in its bone structures through osteochronology. Thus, we will employ X-ray spectroscopy to obtain multi-element maps and total concentrations in bone samples of the Cágado-de-barbicha.