Reproduced from BBC News
The waste has travelled more than 500km (310 miles) since the dam at an iron mine collapsed two weeks ago.
Samarco, the mine owner, has tried to protect plants and animals by building barriers along the banks of the river.
Workers have dredged the river mouth to help the mud flow out to sea fast.
The contaminated mud, tested by the water management authorities, was found to contain toxic substances like mercury, arsenic, chromium and manganese at levels exceeding human consumption levels.
Samarco has insisted the sludge is harmless.
In an interview with the BBC, Andres Ruchi, director of the Marine Biology school in Santa Cruz in Espirito Santo state, said that mud could have a devastating impact on marine life when it reaches the sea.
He said the area of sea near the mouth of the Rio Doce is a feeding ground and a breeding location for many species of marine life including the threatened leatherback turtle, dolphins and whales.
"The flow of nutrients in the whole food chain in a third of the south-eastern region of Brazil and half of the Southern Atlantic will be compromised for a minimum of a 100 years," he said.
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