CADMIUM POLLUTION IN THE WEATHERED ZINC METALLURGICAL DISPOSAL LANDFILL WASTE SITE OF INGA, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL A REMEDIATION PROPOSAL

摘要

A zinc metallurgy plant, which, for 25 years operated in the region of Itaguai, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was officially interrupted in 1999, on account of the considerable damage to the ecosystem, resulting from the accumulation of voluminous dump of mine wastes and metallurgical by-products, including cadmium, a natural associate of zinc mineral. A systematic analysis of samples from the waste dump pile provided information on the progressive distribution of the pollutant cadmium ion and extension of the metal contamination of the water system, soil, vegetation and plantations of this subtropical region, under frequent acid rain falls. With this basic information, a formulation is presented, as a proposition for the regeneration of the soil and aquatic systems of the area, in order to make it for safe human settlement and animal living in conditions of sustainable development, as well as the recovery of some contaminant metals of eventual interest.