This study investigated lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) transfer in three dairy farming areas in the Mantaro river headwaters in the central Peruvian Andes and at varying distances from the mining complex at La Oroya. At each of these sites, the transfer of trace metals from the soil to raw milk was estimated, and a hazard assessment for lead and cadmium was carried out in scenarios of minimum, average, and maximum milk consumption in a Peruvian population aged 2–85. Pb and Cd were quantified by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Significantly, the concentrations of lead and cadmium were found to exceed the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization, with a positive geospatial trend correlated with the distance from mining activity. Both Pb and Cd were found to be transferred through the soil–pasture–milk pathway, with the primary source of Cd being phosphate-based f...

The expansion of copper mining on the hyper-arid pacific slope of Southern Peru has precipitated growing concern for scarce water resources in the region. Located in the headwaters of the Torata river, in the department of Moquegua, the Cuajone mine, owned by Southern Copper, provides a unique opportunity in a little-studied region to examine the relative impact of the landscape-scale mining on water resources in the region. Principal component and cluster analyses of the water chemistry data from 16 sites, collected over three seasons during 2017 and 2018, show distinct statistical groupings indicating that, above the settlement of Torata, water geochemistry is a function of chemical weathering processes acting upon underlying geological units, and confirming that the Cuajone mine does not significantly affect water quality in the Torata river. Impact mitigation strategies that firstly ...

The expansion of copper mining on the hyper-arid pacific slope of Southern Peru has precipitated growing concern for scarce water resources in the region. Located in the headwaters of the Torata river, in the department of Moquegua, the Cuajone mine, owned by Southern Copper, provides a unique opportunity in a little-studied region to examine the relative impact of the landscape-scale mining on water resources in the region. Principal component and cluster analyses of the water chemistry data from 16 sites, collected over three seasons during 2017 and 2018, show distinct statistical groupings indicating that, above the settlement of Torata, water geochemistry is a function of chemical weathering processes acting upon underlying geological units, and confirming that the Cuajone mine does not significantly affect water quality in the Torata river. Impact mitigation strategies that firstly ...