Mining associated with mercury contamination in the Chocó, Colombia, and possible phytoremediation strategy with macrophytes

Abstract

Mining is an activity that generates goods for the community, but at the same time leaves harmful consequences to the environment such as deforestation of forests, pollution of soils, water, and air. This activity is generating concern due to the indiscriminate use of chemicals such as mercury (Hg) which generates almost irreversible environmental problems because Hg is bioaculated, biomagnified, and reaches generating health problems. The objective of this study is to determine the role that mining plays in the distribution and contamination of mercury in the biogeographical Chocó, Colombia, and the possible biological strategies of decontamination. For this study, an exhaustive search was carried out in the different digital search engines mainly Scopus and ScienceDirect. Finally, gold mining activity is directly related to mercury pollution in the environment, and the best strategy to reduce concentrations by heavy metals is phytoremediation