Skin lesions and skin pigmentation, increased incidence of different types of cancer and mutations. Those are just some of the alterations that the team of the HUB Environmental Research Center, of the University of Playa Ancha (UPLA), thought of as a conclusion, after an investigation of rural drinking water in the commune of Cabildo, Valparaíso Region, and that was released on Thursday, reported ADN Radio.
The report considered two samples: one, made on December 23, 2021 (which had already shown high presence of the element); and another, from February 21, in the town of Peñablanca.
Regarding the locations and materials analyzed, they considered a rural drinking water supply well, in addition to crop soils, soils of an old runoff channel and avocado leaves (widely cultivated in the area).
Perhaps the most worrying exercise was when the research team took a sample of rural drinking water from a faucet in the kitchen of a local house in Peñablanca. Thus, it was confirmed that “the presence of arsenic remains high over time,” according to a statement issued by the same ENVIRONMENTAL HUB Center.
Negative impact
The director of the Center, Dr. Claudio Sáez, gave more details: “The concentration of arsenic in the drinking water from the APR of Peñablanca doubles what is allowed by the Chilean Standard NCh 409, which can have negative repercussions of medium-long term on the health of people.”
As for the sampling of avocados (soils and runoff channel), there are elements that are above the allowed limits: lead between 1.4 to 7 times that allowed; copper 2 to 10 times more; zinc 1.4 to 4 times more; and cadmium, 1.4 times more.
In this particular case, given the atmospheric transport, by erosive effects, they could be incorporated into the human body through respiratory and digestive tracts, causing cardiovascular diseases, increased frequency of different types of cancer and mutations.
The regional governor of Valparaíso, Rodrigo Mundaca, commented on these results: “The truth is that what one would expect is that situations of this nature are not repeated and the causes that cause situations associated with the presence of pollutants such as arsenic are duly clarified. We hope that situations of this nature will not recur and we are also confident that the new environmental authorities will rise to the occasion.”
A fact to consider, and that was present at the time of the study, was that Peñablanca is located near the tailings of las Cenizas mining company.
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