Monitoring of trace elements in sediments from the beaches next to the Doce River Estuary – ES/Brazil

The region of the mouth of Doce river deserves special attention, because it is of great ecological importance due to animals threatened with extinction and to be a biological reserve area. The objective of this work was the determination of Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and V in sediments samples from the beaches next to Doce river estuary (Regencia, Comboios and Barra do Riacho). The samples were collected in October 2016 and June 2017 from face, berm and restinga points of each beach. The methodology adopted to samples was US EPA 3051A with subsequent by ICP-MS analysis. The results showed high levels of trace elements in the sediments from Regencia beach, nearer site of the Rio Doce Estuary. The principal components analysis was applied and showed separation in the data of the Regencia beach (Figure 1). Although the metals concentrations are below the reference values stablished by environmental legislations,1,2 this coastal region deserves attention. The higher concentrations near to the Doce river may indicate that the Regencia beach is impacted by the collapse of a dam in Minas Gerais.