Environmental assessment of mercury contamination from the Rwamagasa artisanal gold mining centre, Geita District, Tanzania

Taylor, Helen; Appleton, J.D.; Lister, Robert; Smith, B.; Chitamweba, D.; Mkumbo, O.C.; Machiwa, John F.; Tesha, Aloyce L.; Beinhoff, Christian

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.09.042

Cited by 155 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This occurs both inadvertently -as inhaled dust particles or ingested dust-covered food -and intentionally -as a consequence of nutrient deficiency. In fact, it is estimated that children consume 25-81 mg soil/day inadvertently and 9-96 mg soil/day purposely, while adults consume 5-517 mg soil/day inadvertently and up to 25 mg soil/day purposefully [Taylor et al, 2005b;Hagan et al, 2013].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While many studies have investigated Hg use in tropical regions such as the Amazon, particularly in relation to the naturally Hg-rich soils [e.g., Cordy et al, 2011;Terán-Mita et al, 2013;Balzino et al, 2015], little quantitative work has been conducted in an environment with the climatic, edaphic, and geologic conditions of West Africa where crude technology and approaches are utilized to extract the gold [but see Taylor et al, 2005a;Niane et al, 2014;Rajaee et al, 2015]. Despite the prevalence of gold mining in Senegal, to our knowledge only one study has quantified Hg from ASGM in Senegal in environmental media [Niane et al, 2014].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

Gerson

Driscoll

Hsu‐Kim

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Gerson, JR, et al. 2018 Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers. Elem Sci Anth, 6: 11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.274 Introduction Mercury (Hg) -predominantly in the form of methylmercury (MeHg) -is a potent neurotoxin that can significantly impair human health [Driscoll et al., 2013]. Prolonged exposure increases the risk for brain and neurological damage, which is especially harmful for pregnant women and children [Harada, 1995; Grandjean et al., 1997;Selin, 2014]. Although there are many potential sources of Hg, direct inhalation from anthropogenic emissions and consumption of fish constitute the major pathways of human exposure. Even when Hg concentrations are low in water, Hg concentrations can reach dangerously high levels in fish due to bioaccumulation and biomagnification [Morel et al., 1998; Driscoll et al., 2007]. Controlling Hg contamination in the environment has been a primary target of local and national health and environmental agendas for decades and, most recently, an issue of international concern addressed by the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in August 2017 [UNEP, 2013;Selin, 2014].The largest source of Hg to the environment is artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which releases 1,400 tons of Hg annually into the air, soil, and water [Schmidt, 2012] and accounts for an estimated 37% of global anthropogenic Hg emissions [Telmer and Veiga, 2009; UNEP, 2013]. In the process of ASGM, liquid elemental Hg (Hg 0 ) is utilized to separate gold from sediments. After the formation of a Hg-gold amalgam, the mixture is heated to create pellets of gold, while the Hg is released into the atmosphere or deposited as mining waste directly into soil and water. Despite the health effects, many of which are unknown to ASGM communities, Hg is used in this process because it is inexpensive to obtain, easy to use, does not require time-consuming processing, and results in a high gold recovery rate [Telmer and Veiga, 2009] It is estimated that more than 10 million people, including over 3 million women and children, work in ASGM across more than 70 developing countries in Asia, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Families directly involved in the mining are exposed daily to levels of Hg vapor that far exceed the World Health Organization's guidelines [Cordy et al., 2011] The largest source of global mercury (Hg) anthropogenic inputs to the environment is derived from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities in developing countries. While our understanding of global Hg emissions from ASGM is growing, there is limited empirical documentation about the levels of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) contamination near ASGM sites. We measured THg and MeHg concentrations in soil (n = 119), sediment (n = 22), and water (n = 25) from four active ASGM villages and one non-ASGM reference village in Senegal, West Africa. Nearly all samples had THg and MeHg concent...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

Gerson

Driscoll

Hsu‐Kim

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…According to environmental studies, many possible pathways to uptake mercury exist for miners and inhabitants, e.g., drinking water, from the soil through eating vegetables and consuming fish [28][29][30]. However, the toxic mercury vapor from smelting the amalgam seems to be the most dangerous pathway of exposure, since the amalgam smelters in particular have shown extreme high levels of mercury in their specimens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Biomonitoring Data from Mercury Exposed Miners in Six Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining Areas in Asia and Africa

Baeuml¹,

Blüml

Gothe³

et al. 2011

Minerals

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Abstract:Objectives: In artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas in many developing countries, mercury (Hg) is used to extract gold from ore. Data of 1250 participants from Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe were combined to analyze the relation between exposure in ASGM areas and body burden. Methods: Four groups were selected relating to their intensity of contact with mercury: (i) a non-exposed control group; (ii) a low exposed group with participants only living in mining areas, but not working as miners; (iii) a medium exposed group, miners living in exposed areas and working with mercury without smelting amalgam; and (iv) a high OPEN ACCESSMinerals 2011, 1 123 exposed group, miners living in exposed areas and smelting amalgam. Results: Compared to the non-exposed control group, participants living and/ or miners working in highly exposed areas have significantly higher concentration of total mercury in urine, hair and blood (p-value < 0.001). The median mercury value in urine in the control group is <0.2 µg/L. In the high exposed group of amalgam smelters, the median in urine is 12.0 µg/L. The median in blood in the control group is <0.93 µg/L. The median level in blood of the high exposed group is 7.56 µg/L. The median for mercury in hair samples from the control group is 0.21 µg/g. In the high exposed group the median hair concentration is 2.4 µg/g hair. Mercury levels also differ considerably between the countries, reflecting a diverse background burden due to different fish eating habits and different work place methods. Conclusions: A high percentage of exposed individuals had levels above threshold values. These high levels of mercury are likely to be related with serious health problems.

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“…Therefore, artisanal gold mining is a substantial source of mercury and cyanide contamination in developing countries worldwide (Appleton et al 1999;Carling et al 2013;Cordy et al 2011;Taylor et al, 2005).…”

Section: Gold Mining Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Bioremediation of soil and water polluted by cyanide: A review

Lovasoa¹,

Karoui²,

Andrianisa³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Environmental assessment of mercury contamination from the Rwamagasa artisanal gold mining centre, Geita District, Tanzania

Cited by 155 publications

References 28 publications

Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

Human Biomonitoring Data from Mercury Exposed Miners in Six Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining Areas in Asia and Africa

Bioremediation of soil and water polluted by cyanide: A review

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