ABSTRACT
At least three Brazilian areas are well recognized by their anomalous arsenic levels: the Iron Quadrangle region and the Ribeira valley, both in the Southeast portion of the country and the Santana area, in the Amazon territory. Mining activities can contribute to the release of arsenic in the environment, especially gold exploration, since it is well documented that arsenic minerals are naturally found in gold deposits. Notwithstanding, mining is not the only anthropic activity that contributes to arsenic contamination in Brazil. Industrial, urban, and agricultural activities exert strong influence as well. Brazil is a continental country with high variability on geology and climate attributes as well as regarding the intensity of anthropic activities. Several studies focused on the evaluation of ecological risks and regulations for As in soils, sediments, water, air, and food. Nearly 70% of the studies are concentrated in the Southeast region of Brazil, 8.5% in the South, 12.5% in the Northeast region, 4% in the North region, and 4% in the Midwest region. Nevertheless, for most of the Brazilian States, there is still scarce data on As bioaccessibility.
