Aquatic pollution from truck spills: Urgent action needed in Brazil and beyond
Azevedo-Santos, Valter M., Pereira, Tailaine R., Magurran, Anne E., Sampaio, Wagner M.S., Fearnside, Philip M., Laurance, William F., and Giarrizzo, Tommaso (2025) Aquatic pollution from truck spills: Urgent action needed in Brazil and beyond. Water Biology and Security, 4 (3). 100372.
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Abstract
On 29 January 2024, a truck accident spilled concentrated sulfonic acid into a river in Brazil's State of Santa Catarina. This disaster, which occurred in a protected area, killed various types of fish (e.g., crenuchids, heptapterids, and loricariids) and probably many other less observable animals, such as small invertebrates. The accident, similar to others around the world, gained national and international media attention. Because truck accidents causing aquatic pollution through chemical spills are occurring not just in Brazil but also globally, the recent event led us to consider similar cases and to recommend potential measures to help mitigate biodiversity loss in waterbodies near roads. Three factors need to be considered: (i) human (drivers); (ii) truck (mechanical condition); and (iii) road (e.g., infrastructure). In addition, improved expert assessments of the negative impact of these accidents on biodiversity are needed. A requirement to aid recovery of polluted ecosystems should be incumbent upon the companies involved in truck accidents.
| Item ID: | 87935 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2772-7351 |
| Keywords: | Acid, Cargo, Conservation unit, Fish kill, Fuel, Highway, Protected areas, Roads, Threatened species |
| Copyright Information: | © 2025 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Mar 2026 00:14 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4105 Pollution and contamination > 410504 Surface water quality processes and contaminated sediment assessment @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180505 Measurement and assessment of marine water quality and condition @ 100% |
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