Physicochemical characterization of monazite sand and its associated bacterial species from the beaches of southeastern Brazil

D’Azeredo Orlando, Marcos Tadeu; Galvão, Elson Silva; Passamai, José Luis Jr; Zordan, Alan Bragança; Orlando, Cintia Garrido Pinheiro; Oliveira, Jairo Pinto; Gouvea, Sonia Alves; Ribeiro, Flavia Noronha Dutra; dos Santos Alves, Tatyane Paz Dominguez; Soares, Jacyra

Physicochemical characterization of monazite sand and its associated bacterial species from the beaches of southeastern Brazil

2022

Beaches with monazitic sands show high natural radiation, and the knowledge of this radiation is fundamental to simulate the effects of natural terrestrial radiation on biological systems. Monazite-rich sand from a beach in the southeastern Brazil were collected and analyzed by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and magnetic susceptibility. The natural terrestrial radiation of the beach sand showed a positive correlation with the Th and Y elements, which are closely associated with Ce, Nd, Ca, and P, suggesting that this grouping is mainly associated with local natural radiation. Based on the sand characterization, a physical simulator of natural gamma radiation was built with parameters similar to those of the monazite beach sand, considering areas with high natural radiation levels. The simulation revealed that the natural radiation of the monazite sands has a significant effect on reducing the growth of the bacteria strains of E. coli and S. aureus present in the beach sand, with a reduction of 23.8% and 18.4%, respectively.

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