IMPACT OF HEAVY METALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLLAPSE OF MINING DAMS ON ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE: REPORTS FROM BRAZIL

Abstract

Mining tailings have a strong presence of heavy metals in their composition, and these elements may be associated with the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The objective of this work was to analyze studies that describe the relationship between bacteria recovered from sites impacted by mining tailings resulting from the collapse of the Fundão and Córrego do Feijão Mine dams and the development of antimicrobial resistance. This is an integrative literature review, using the PubMed, VHL, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases, and the descriptors “antimicrobial resistance”, “heavy metal”, “dam” and “Brazil” (English) and “resistência antimicrobiana”, “metal pesado”, “barragem” and “Brasil” (Portuguese). Six articles were selected, four referring to the Fundão dam and two to the Córrego do Feijão Mine. All works suggested that environmental contamination by heavy metals, resulting from mining waste released after the dams collapsed, favored the appearance of antimicrobial resistance genes, that is, they are related to the selective pressure exerted by heavy metals. Disasters such as these raise questions about the interface of antimicrobial resistance in environments that have heavy metals as contaminants, the knowledge of which is of great relevance since antimicrobial resistance is a serious public health problem.