Life cycle impact assessment of artisanal sandstone mining on the environment and health of mine workers

Agwa-Ejon, J. F.; Pradhan, Anup

doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2018.05.005

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…However, this study only deals with the specific issue of the environmental impacts of ASM. The key topics of the ASM issue in GLR include socioeconomic impacts [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21], health aspects [19,22,23], women's labor [24][25][26][27][28][29], child labor [30,31], and the role of minerals in armed conflicts [32,33]. Conversely, in ASM, much less interest is devoted to the actual environmental impacts and their typology.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Macháček

2019

Sustainability

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Artisanal and small-scale mining is a widespread economic sector in the African Great Lakes Region, where it has an adverse impact on the population's environment. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and consider the typology of the environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining, in particular, the anthropogenic influences on topography with regard to the methods used in raw material mining. Among the most significant environmental aspects related to artisanal and small-scale mining are deforestation, changes in landscape structure, influence over geomorphological processes and hydrological river regime, chemical pollution of soil and watercourses, influencing soil production capacity. The aforementioned factors can cause health problems such as silicosis, poisoning by methyl orthophosphate, or injury during the mining activity itself. Artisanal and small-scale mining could initiate new geomorphological processes or modify naturally occurring geomorphological processes. These dynamic processes are influenced by the topography of the relief, soil properties, and rock composition. Anthropogenic activity in these cases may lead to faster reshaping (degradation or abrasion) of soil shapes. This study covers a broad understanding of environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining with a focus on anthropogenic influencing.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Macháček

2019

Sustainability

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“…Dust contained and concentrated within mining pits and shafts is particularly damaging to the health of miners, most of whom lack access to masks, goggles, and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Silicosis, a very serious lung disease, is a health hazard for miners, particularly those involved in hard rock mining involving explosives (Ralph et al 2018;Agwa-Ejona and Pradhan 2018). Naturally, dust is much more harmful if it contains particular elements that are themselves dangerous (e.g., radioactivity).…”

Section: Air Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting environmental sustainability in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Tanzania

Kinyondo¹,

Huggins²

2021

WIDER Working Paper

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“…Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a significant economic activity in most rural areas of developing countries (Agwa-Ejon and Pradhan, 2018). It is defined as a labor-intensive, inefficient, and dangerous gold mining operation that generates 10,000 to 100,000 tons of gold per year (Seccatore et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Uncontrolled ASGM activities are frequently related with environmental degradation and economic livelihood loss as a result of inappropriate mining procedures (Boadi et al, 2017;Isung et al, 2021). ASGM operations, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), emit the most anthropogenic mercury into the environment (Agwa-Ejon and Pradhan, 2018;Anderson, 1991;Swenson et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Social and Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Practices in Lolgorian, Kenya

Tampushi

Onyari

Muthama

2022

EUR J SUSTAIN DEV RES

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The environmental implications of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) practices have significantly grown, particularly on environment, socio, and livelihoods of the mining communities. The study aims to investigates the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of these practices. A survey research design including primary data as well as a random sample process were employed in the study. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to randomly selection respondents across the artisanal mining and processing areas. The statistical package for social sciences version 26.0 was used to analyze the data, which included frequency distribution tables, pie charts, bar graphs, percentages, regression, and correlation analyses. According to the data, 97% of gold miners use the mercury amalgamation process, 95.5% operate illegally, and 94.3% do not conduct environmental impact assessments for their mining activities. In terms of ASGM formalization, 68.1% say that poor governance has had an influence on the process, hampered sustainable practices and operations. According to the data, 91.4% of respondents strongly agreed that ASGM provides livelihoods for both women and children, while 73.1% strongly felt that ASGM is more profitable than other forms of livelihoods. The total health implications of hazardous chemical exposure linked with ASGM activities are that 75.5% are aware of major health consequences. Unfortunately, 83.2% of individuals surveyed said they continued to burn amalgam without protective equipment. The environmental implications of ASGM operations have significantly grown, particularly in terms of forest destruction and soil and water contamination (60.4%). The data from model fitting revealed that, at p=0.05, trends, practices, and governance structures were statistically significant with independent variables (X1, X2, X3, and X4) in predicting ASGM environmental sustainability. According to the data, Nagelkerke=0.198, or about 20% of the variance in mining operations in the ASGM sector, may be attributed to the four independent variables. According to the findings of the study, ASGM's current practices and governance structures have a major influence on the sector's environmental sustainability. The study suggests that ASGM formalization be accelerated and decentralized, and that governance mechanisms be operationalized in order to improve miners' skills and knowledge through education and socioeconomic development. Promoting miners' self-regulation is also essential for ensuring environmental sustainability.

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Life cycle impact assessment of artisanal sandstone mining on the environment and health of mine workers

Cited by 19 publications

References 19 publications

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Promoting environmental sustainability in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Tanzania

Assessing Social and Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Practices in Lolgorian, Kenya

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