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| Home > Articles > Published articles > Impact of hydrocarbon extraction on heavy metal concentrations in lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) from the Peruvian Amazon |
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) (Universitat de Barcelona. Institute de Recerca de la Biodiversitat)| Date: | 2024 |
| Abstract: | Oil has been extracted from the Western Amazon since the 1920s, leading to severe environmental contamination due to frequent occurrence oil spills and the dumping of produced water. Local inhabitants, along with environmental and human rights organizations, have reported the adverse effects of oil-related pollution on their livelihoods and the ecosystems they depend on. Here, we study accumulation of oil-related heavy metals in wildlife, and its subsequent incorporation into the trophic chain. We analysed the concentration of 14 heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Hg, As, Ni, V, Ba, Se, Be, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Al) in liver samples from 78 lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) hunted for subsistence in an oil-polluted area from the northern Peruvian Amazon where oil has been extracted since the 1970s (n = 38), and two control areas, the Yavari-Mirín River basin (n = 20), and the Pucacuro River basin (n = 20). Pacas in the oil-polluted area have significantly higher concentrations of Cd (P < 0. 01) and Ba (P < 0. 0001) compared to those in control areas, suggesting bioaccumulation of oil-related pollution. Conversely, Se levels were significantly lower in the oil-polluted area (P < 0. 0001), likely due to the sequestration of Se by other heavy metals, particularly Cd. Additionally, minor variations in other heavy metals, e. g. , Fe and Zn, were observed in pacas from the oil-polluted area, whereas control areas showed higher concentrations of Ni and Cu. Mn and Al levels did not significantly differ between the study areas. These results underscore the impact of oil extraction on the absorption and assimilation of heavy metals in wildlife, point at oil activities as the source of the high and unsafe blood Cd levels reported for the indigenous population of the studied oil extraction area and raise concerns about the long-term health risks from oil extraction posed to local Indigenous People who rely on subsistence hunting. |
| Grants: | Agencia Estatal de Investigación RTI2018-095949-B-I00 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2022-141463OB-I00 European Commission 289374 Agencia Estatal de Investigación RYC-2016-21366 |
| Note: | Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M |
| Rights: | Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.  |
| Language: | Anglès |
| Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada |
| Subject: | Amazon ; Bioaccumulation ; Indigenous People ; Oil extraction ; Petrogenic pollutants ; Subsistence hunting ; Wildlife |
| Published in: | Science of the total environment, Vol. 930 (June 2024) , art. 172371, ISSN 1879-1026 |
| Related work: | Mayor Aparicio, Pedro Ginés; Soliño, Lucía; Cartró-Sabaté, Mar; Orta-Martínez, Martí, 2024. Impact of Hydrocarbon Extraction on Heavy Metal Concentrations in lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) from the Peruvian Amazon, CORA.Repositori de Dades de Recerca https://doi.org/10.34810/data1321 |
