Elementos potencialmente tóxicos no município de Santo Amaro: passivos e impactos ambientais

Abstract

The municipality of Santo Amaro da Purificação, located in Recôncavo Baiano, has one of the most complex and representative cases of contamination by heavy metals. Since the closure of the factory, COBRAC – Companhia Brasileira de Chumbo (PLUMBUM), in 1993, which processed lead and cadmium, the slag resulting from the processing of these materials, contaminated a large part of the soil surrounding the factory without due treatment and, subsequently, , by decision of the Public Prosecutor's Office, were encapsulated in an irregular and incorrect manner. For around 32 years, the Santamarense population, of black, quilombola origin, has been an explicit victim of environmental racism. As a consequence of the spread of contamination by heavy metals in the region, a significant part of the population, who historically carry out agricultural and fishing activities, have had difficulties with these sources of income. To understand the way in which family farmers treat the soil, interviews were carried out and monitoring of the fertilization of their crops was recorded. The contaminated soil was collected and analyzed, ornamental species were tested for their phytoremediation capabilities when cultivated in massapê soil and fertilizers were added, such as tanned cattle manure, humus and earthworms and a mixture of both. The chosen species did not present satisfactory results for phytoremediation, however the unavailable fractions of heavy metals evaluated in these studies had their proportions changed to available when the soils with the inputs were analyzed.