Teores naturais de metais pesados em solos da Ilha de Fernando de Noronha

Abstract

The archipelago of Fernando de Noronha lies 360 km from the continent and is part of the Volcanic Islands of Brazil. Fernando de Noronha is a Marine National Park protected by The Institute Chico Mendes for Biodiversity Conservation and represents a low impacted environment where natural concentrations of metals in soil cand be studied. Thus, the work was carried out to determine the natural concentrations of Ag, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Sb, V and Zn in such soils. Additionally, the guidelines values of metals required by the Brazilian legislation (CONAMA, 2009) were also provided. In general, the natural concentrations of metals in the archipelago soils were higher than observed for continental soils. The concentrations varied according to the parent material, being highest in Cambisols and lowest in Arenosols for the majority of metals analyzed. The Soil Quality Values calculated to Ag, Co, Cu, Mo, V and Zn indicated that Fernando de Noronha soils pose no risks for human health and ecosystem. On the other hand, the concentrations of Ni, Cr, Sb, and Ba are above the Prevention Value and monitoring is mandatory to assess the contamination risks.