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Boffetta, Paolo; García-Gómez, Montserrat; Pompe-Kirn, Vera; Заридзе, Давид; Bellander, Tom; Bulbulyan, Mariana A.; Caballero, Jose Diego; Ceccarelli, F; Colin, Didier; Dizdarević, Tatjana; Español, Santiago; Kobal, Alfred B.; Петрова, Н. Г.; Sällsten, Gerd; Merler, Enzo

doi:10.1023/a:1008849208686

Cited by 40 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…However, the increased mortality due to suicide among miners of the Idrija Mercury Mine in the last 45 years (period of follow-up, 1950–1995; number of miners, 1,589; number of observed suicides, 40; standardized mortality ratio, 123; 95% confidence interval, 88–168; unpublished data) cannot completely confirm the relation between occupational exposure to Hg 0 in interaction with permanent alcohol consumption and depression with associated negative self-concept as one of the potential causes of suicidal behavior. This is primarily because the results of the epidemiologic study on the mortality of miners in four mercury mines (Boffetta et al 1998) are not consistent, probably due to errors in the classification of the cause of death in some countries, or due to variations in psychosocial or genetic risk factors (Marušič and Farmer s 2001). Despite the inconsistent results of the above-mentioned epidemiologic study, our assumption is also supported by a rough comparison of the share (%) of ex-miners in the subgroup with increased depression (considering only the six miners with moderate Hg 0 exposure and moderate alcohol consumption), which is slightly above 11%, and the share (%) of suicides resulting in death among the miners of the Idrija Mercury Mine in the past 45 years, which has attained 2.5%.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An epidemiologic study (Boffetta et al 1998) of the causes of death among miners in certain mercury mines revealed an increased mortality rate due to suicide among the miners of the Idrija Mercury Mine. During the long-term medical monitoring of miners exposed to Hg 0 (Hribernik 1950; Kobal 1975, 1991), changes to miners’ personalities were observed several times.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Personality Traits in Miners with Past Occupational Elemental Mercury Exposure

Grum

Kobal

Arnerić

et al. 2006

Environ Health Perspect

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In this study, we evaluated the impact of long-term occupational exposure to elemental mercury vapor (Hg0) on the personality traits of ex-mercury miners. Study groups included 53 ex-miners previously exposed to Hg0 and 53 age-matched controls. Miners and controls completed the self-reporting Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Emotional States Questionnaire. The relationship between the indices of past occupational exposure and the observed personality traits was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and on a subgroup level by machine learning methods (regression trees). The ex-mercury miners were intermittently exposed to Hg0 for a period of 7–31 years. The means of exposure-cycle urine mercury (U-Hg) concentrations ranged from 20 to 120 μg/L. The results obtained indicate that ex-miners tend to be more introverted and sincere, more depressive, more rigid in expressing their emotions and are likely to have more negative self-concepts than controls, but no correlations were found with the indices of past occupational exposure. Despite certain limitations, results obtained by the regression tree suggest that higher alcohol consumption per se and long-term intermittent, moderate exposure to Hg0 (exposure cycle mean U-Hg concentrations > 38.7 < 53.5 μg/L) in interaction with alcohol remain a plausible explanation for the depression associated with negative self-concept found in subgroups of ex-mercury miners. This could be one of the reason for the higher risk of suicide among miners of the Idrija Mercury Mine in the last 45 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Personality Traits in Miners with Past Occupational Elemental Mercury Exposure

Grum

Kobal

Arnerić

et al. 2006

Environ Health Perspect

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“…This case definition excludes other occupationally related health impacts on gold miners from the analysis, such as respiratory outcomes of acute exposure to mercury [ 46 ], exposure to other metals [ 47 ], or injuries [ 9 ] (Assumption c, Table 2 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The burden of chronic mercury intoxication in artisanal small-scale gold mining in Zimbabwe: data availability and preliminary estimates

et al. 2014

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BackgroundArtisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a poverty-driven activity practiced in over 70 countries worldwide. Zimbabwe is amongst the top ten countries using large quantities of mercury to extract gold from ore. This analysis was performed to check data availability and derive a preliminary estimate of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to mercury use in ASGM in Zimbabwe.MethodsCases of chronic mercury intoxication were identified following an algorithm using mercury-related health effects and mercury in human specimens. The sample prevalence amongst miners and controls (surveyed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in 2004 and the University of Munich in 2006) was determined and extrapolated to the entire population of Zimbabwe. Further epidemiological and demographic data were taken from the literature and missing data modeled with DisMod II to quantify DALYs using the methods from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2004 update published by the World Health Organization (WHO). While there was no disability weight (DW) available indicating the relative disease severity of chronic mercury intoxication, the DW of a comparable disease was assigned by following the criteria 1) chronic condition, 2) triggered by a substance, and 3) causing similar health symptoms.ResultsMiners showed a sample prevalence of 72% while controls showed no cases of chronic mercury intoxication. Data availability is very limited why it was necessary to model data and make assumptions about the number of exposed population, the definition of chronic mercury intoxication, DW, and epidemiology. If these assumptions hold, the extrapolation would result in around 95,400 DALYs in Zimbabwe’s total population in 2004.ConclusionsThis analysis provides a preliminary quantification of the mercury-related health burden from ASGM based on the limited data available. If the determined assumptions hold, chronic mercury intoxication is likely to have been one of the top 20 hazards for population health in Zimbabwe in 2004 when comparing with more than 130 categories of diseases and injuries quantified in the WHO’s GBD 2004 update. Improving data quality would allow more accurate estimates. However, the results highlight the need to reduce a burden which could be entirely avoided.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1476-069X-13-111) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Exposure to Pb can affect the central neuropathy and reproductive system [16,17]. One study has suggested the age-standardized lung cancer mortality rate of mercury (Hg) miners is higher than that of the general population [18]. Another study indicated that the lung cancer incidence rate of workers exposed to Hg vapor in chloralkali plants is higher than that of the general population [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cell-type specificity of lung cancer associated with low-dose soil heavy metal contamination in Taiwan: An ecological study

Huang

Lung

et al. 2013

BMC Public Health

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Background: Numerous studies have examined the association between heavy metal contamination (including arsenic [As] [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) and lung cancer. However, data from previous studies on pathological cell types are limited, particularly regarding exposure to low-dose soil heavy metal contamination. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between soil heavy metal contamination and lung cancer incidence by specific cell type in Taiwan. Methods: We conducted an ecological study and calculated the annual averages of eight soil heavy metals (i.e., As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) by using data from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration from1982 to 1986. The age-standardized incidence rates of lung cancer according to two major pathological types (adenocarcinoma [AC] and squamous cell carcinoma [SCC]) were obtained from the National Cancer Registry Program conducted in Taiwan from 2001 to 2005. A geographical information system was used to plot the maps of soil heavy metal concentration and lung cancer incidence rates. Poisson regression models were used to obtain the adjusted relative ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the lung cancer incidence associated with soil heavy metals.

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Abstract: Exposure to inorganic mercury in mines and mills does not seem strongly associated with cancer risk, with the possible exception of liver cancer; the increase in lung cancer may be explained by co-exposure to crystalline silica and radon.

Cited by 40 publications

References 10 publications

Personality Traits in Miners with Past Occupational Elemental Mercury Exposure

Personality Traits in Miners with Past Occupational Elemental Mercury Exposure

The burden of chronic mercury intoxication in artisanal small-scale gold mining in Zimbabwe: data availability and preliminary estimates

Cell-type specificity of lung cancer associated with low-dose soil heavy metal contamination in Taiwan: An ecological study

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