Ecological and Health Risk Assessments of an Abandoned Gold Mine (Remance, Panama): Complex Scenarios Need a Combination of Indices

Abstract

The derelict Remance gold mine is a possible source of pollution with potentially toxic elements (PTEs). In the study area, diverse mine waste has been left behind and exposed to weather conditions, and poses risks for soil, plants and water bodies, and also for the health of local inhabitants. This study sought to perform an ecological and health risk assessment of derelict gold mining areas with incomplete remediation, including: (i) characterizing the geochemical distribution of PTEs; (ii) assessing ecological risk by estimating the pollution load index (PLI) and potential ecological risk index (RI); (iii) assessing soil health by dehydrogenase activity; and iv) establishing non-carcinogenic (HI) and carcinogenic risks (CR) for local inhabitants. Soil health seems to depend on not only PTE concentrations, but also on organic matter (OM). Both indexes (PLI and RI) ranged from high to extreme near mining and waste accumulation sites. As indicated by both the HI and CR results, the mining area poses a health risk for local inhabitants and particularly for children. For this reason, it will be necessary to set up environmental management programs in the areas that are most affected (tailings and surrounding areas) and accordingly establish the best remediation strategies to minimize risks for the local population.

Trace elements in farmland soils and crops, and probabilistic health risk assessment in areas influenced by mining activity in Ecuador

“…The probabilistic risk assessment revealed that 100% of the consumers of local crops might be exposed to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects caused by the ingestion of food contaminated with trace elements. Similar findings were reported in mining areas of Panamá (González-Valoys et al, 2021), Peru (Orellana Mendoza et al, 2021, and Central China (Li et al, 2018a(Li et al, , 2018b, where the presence of potentially toxic elements in edible plants exceeded the safe exposure limit for non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk related to crop ingestion.…”

“…Trace elements can appear in agricultural soils naturally (i.e., atmospheric deposition, weathering, parent rock, or erosion) as well as through anthropogenic activities developed in the vicinity of these soils and by the same agricultural practices that incorporate various contaminants into the soil (Kumar et al, 2022). Among anthropogenic activities, mining is considered an important source of trace elements pollution since, when not carried out properly, it can release potentially toxic elements into the surrounding environment (González-Valoys et al, 2021;Jiménez-Oyola et al, 2021a, 2021bWang et al, 2019aWang et al, , 2019bWang et al, , 2019cXu et al, 2013).…”

Ecological Risk Assessment and Source Apportionment of Heavy Metals in the Soil of an Opencast Mine in Xinjiang

“…Heavy metal pollution in soil is closely related to human activities during mining in open-pit mines [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. For example, heavy metals spread far and wide through dust and wind effects from various human activities, migrate to nearby water bodies and soils, and destroy the local ecological environment [ 17 , 18 ]. They subsequently enter the human body in various ways, such as plant absorption, human skin contact and inhalation [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Evaluation of antimony availability in a mining context: Impact for the environment, and for mineral exploration and exploitation.

“…A homogenised soil sample (1.5 g) was placed inside a test tube and mixed with 1.5 mL of deionised water, 0.015 g of CaCO 3 and 0.250 mL of TTC (3% v/w) to be vortexed (2 min) and incubated (Memmert In 30) at 37 • C for 24 h. Afterwards, samples were vortexed using methanol as an extractant agent and tubes were centrifuged (Ortoalresa, Unicen 21) at 4000 rpm for 10 min. The supernatant was analysed in a UV-visible spectrophotometer at 485 nm (Gonzalez-Valoys et al, 2021). Data were expressed as μg TPF g soil…”