Sobrevivencia del nematodo c. elgans expuesto al agua del río calera afectado por la actividad minera en el Cantón Portovelo

Abstract

The Portovelo canton of the Gold Province is the most important gold-bearing zone in Ecuador. The exploitation of gold in this area began in the 19th century and since then, this activity has generated damage to the ecosystem and human health due to the removal and use of highly toxic polluting material that, due to the lack of efficient protocols in the disposal final waste, end up accumulating in nearby watersheds, triggering adverse consequences due to the bioaccumulation of these heavy metals in biota. In fact, preliminary studies have shown high concentrations of some non-essential heavy metals (Hg, Pb, As, Mg, Zn, Cd), in the Zaruma and Portovelo cantons of the El Oro province from the source of the Calera and Amarillo rivers. and Pindo, along the basin, until reaching the Puyango River, where the lowest values of these elements are recorded. The objective of this research was to determine the toxicity of heavy metals present in the waters of the Calera River, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a toxicological bioindicator by in vitro mortality assay. The concentration of heavy metals was determined from 4 water samples along the Calera River, and a sample at the outlet of the gold processing plant before flowing into the river. For the quantification of heavy metals - Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd) - the atomic absorption spectroscopy technique was used