Elemental composition of airborne particulates in uranium mining and milling operations

Paschoa, Anselmo Salles; Wrenn, M.E.; Jones, Keith; Cholewa, M.; Carvalho, S.M.

doi:10.1016/0168-583x(85)90070-9

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…From the size analysis, it is clear that the community in the gold mine village is affected by PM 10 and dust fall owing to its location close to TSF1 and TSF6. Fine particulate matter is known to induce subtle health effects, mostly respiratory diseases and physiological potency [ 32 , 33 ]. The elemental investigation aimed to find out whether there was any silica content in the dust, which is a potential health threat to the surrounding communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dust Deposition Impacts at a Liquidated Gold Mine Village: Gauteng Province in South Africa

Mpanza

Adam

Moolla

2020

IJERPH

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The windy season brings numerous community complaints for gold mining companies situated in the Witwatersrand due to windblown dust from partially rehabilitated tailings storage facilities (TSFs). For communities encroaching onto TSFs, windblown dust is perceived as a health hazard and an environmental challenge. In a study conducted in 2017 by the Lawyers for Human Rights, the community of a gold mine village perceived tailings storage facility 6 (TSF6) and other surrounding tailings storage facilities which are partially rehabilitated to be a health and socio-economic threat. Since 2013, when a nearby gold mining company was liquidated, this community has been complaining about dust fallout. To validate the claims made by the community this paper reports on the dust deposition impacts, and respiratory illnesses risk posed by wind-blown generated dust. The study conducts an air quality assessment using dispersion modelling of windblown dust. Surface material from the TSFs was sampled, analysed for silica and heavy metal content using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) respectively. This study finds that PM10 dust fallout, high in silica and uranium content, could potentially pose health threats to the surrounding community. The study further shows that dust deposition is the highest in July–October, with TSF6 posing a nuisance while TSF1 represents a potential health threat owing to its particle size distribution for the surrounding gold mine village community. Potential receptors of the air pollution by dust in this study area include neighbouring property owners, business owners of the nearby shopping centre, the school and the clinic. This study further finds that sudden mine closure due to mine liquidation results in unrehabilitated tailings storage facilities which exacerbates dust deposition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dust Deposition Impacts at a Liquidated Gold Mine Village: Gauteng Province in South Africa

Mpanza

Adam

Moolla

2020

IJERPH

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PIXE-RBS combination to measure uranium and thorium in environmental and biological samples

Paschoa

Cholewa

Jones

et al. 1987

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles

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Localization of vanadium-containing particles in the lungs of uranium/vanadium miners

Paschoa

Wrenn²,

Singh³

et al. 1987

Biol Trace Elem Res

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Several geological formations of the Utah-Colorado mining region mined for uranium ore during and after World War II had been mined earlier for vanadium. Therefore, most miners and millers from that region were exposed to those metals' ores or tailings at one time or another. Preliminary investigation to determine uranium and vanadium retained in the lungs of a former uranium miner and miller from this region, who died of lung cancer (mesothelioma), showed a high nonuniform distribution of vanadium. This observation led to the hypothesis that the vanadium content in the lungs could be associated with inhaled particles. Further examination of spectra of characteristic X-rays obtained by scanning particle-induced X-ray emission (microPIXE) of an autopsy sample of this lung indicated that vanadium was indeed present in localized sites within the 20-μm spatial resolution of the proton beam. This work points out that the microPIXE-RBS (Rutherford backscattering) test for vanadium can be used for site localization of inhaled particles retained in the lungs. Further studies are in progress to: (i) locate uranium-bearing particles in lung tissues of former uranium miners and millers; and (ii) evaluate the local doses of alpha radiation received from these particles.

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Elemental composition of airborne particulates in uranium mining and milling operations

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

Dust Deposition Impacts at a Liquidated Gold Mine Village: Gauteng Province in South Africa

Dust Deposition Impacts at a Liquidated Gold Mine Village: Gauteng Province in South Africa

PIXE-RBS combination to measure uranium and thorium in environmental and biological samples

Localization of vanadium-containing particles in the lungs of uranium/vanadium miners

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