91
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. K. Gupta, C. Walther (eds.), Uranium in Plants and the Environment,
Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14961-1_4
Biogeochemistry of Uranium in Tropical
Environments
Juliana A. Galhardi, Daniel M. Bonotto, Carlos E. Eismann,
and Ygor Jacques A. B. Da Silva
Abstract Uranium evaluation in areas affected by industrial, mining, and agricultural activities is important for the assessment of the human exposure to the natural
radioactivity. Besides the occurrence of U isotopes in soils, rocks, and sediments
being natural, anthropogenic activities contribute to increase this dose. Food and
water ingestion is one of the main sources of U exposure to the population. Although
the main U carrier is water, dust and atmospheric particulate matter also act as alternative routes to this radioelement dispersion. In soils, U mobility and its uptake by
living organisms can be affected by physical and chemical properties of the mean.
Until the present days, most of the studies examining the transference of U from
soils, sediments, and natural waters to the biota took place in temperate and developed areas, where the use of the natural resources, climatic conditions, weathering
processes, nutrient cycling, and metal uptake by living organisms differ significantly from those in tropical areas. In tropical areas, as soon as organic materials
reach the soil surface, they are decomposed, with minimal accumulation of organic
matter and a rapid recycling of nutrients and contaminants in vegetation. Mechanisms
controlling the uptake of U by aquatic and terrestrial organisms in tropical regions
deserve special attention considering that these areas are large producers of food
worldwide. In this chapter, we consider the main environmental factors that control
the U bioavailability in tropical aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, providing useful
information for risk assessment models.
J. A. Galhardi (*)
Department of Chemistry, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada
D. M. Bonotto
Department of Petrology and Metalogy, Institute of Geosciences and Exact Sciences, São
Paulo State University, Rio Claro, Brazil
C. E. Eismann
Center for Environmental Studies, São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, Brazil
Y. J. A. B. Da Silva
Department of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
D. K. Gupta, C. Walther (eds.), Uranium in Plants and the Environment,
Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in the Environment,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14961-1_4
Biogeochemistry of Uranium in Tropical
Environments
Juliana A. Galhardi, Daniel M. Bonotto, Carlos E. Eismann,
and Ygor Jacques A. B. Da Silva
Abstract Uranium evaluation in areas affected by industrial, mining, and agricultural activities is important for the assessment of the human exposure to the natural
radioactivity. Besides the occurrence of U isotopes in soils, rocks, and sediments
being natural, anthropogenic activities contribute to increase this dose. Food and
water ingestion is one of the main sources of U exposure to the population. Although
the main U carrier is water, dust and atmospheric particulate matter also act as alternative routes to this radioelement dispersion. In soils, U mobility and its uptake by
living organisms can be affected by physical and chemical properties of the mean.
Until the present days, most of the studies examining the transference of U from
soils, sediments, and natural waters to the biota took place in temperate and developed areas, where the use of the natural resources, climatic conditions, weathering
processes, nutrient cycling, and metal uptake by living organisms differ significantly from those in tropical areas. In tropical areas, as soon as organic materials
reach the soil surface, they are decomposed, with minimal accumulation of organic
matter and a rapid recycling of nutrients and contaminants in vegetation. Mechanisms
controlling the uptake of U by aquatic and terrestrial organisms in tropical regions
deserve special attention considering that these areas are large producers of food
worldwide. In this chapter, we consider the main environmental factors that control
the U bioavailability in tropical aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, providing useful
information for risk assessment models.
J. A. Galhardi (*)
Department of Chemistry, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada
D. M. Bonotto
Department of Petrology and Metalogy, Institute of Geosciences and Exact Sciences, São
Paulo State University, Rio Claro, Brazil
C. E. Eismann
Center for Environmental Studies, São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, Brazil
Y. J. A. B. Da Silva
Department of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil