Successful airborne mercury reductions in Colombia

Cordy, Paul; Veiga, Marcello M.; Bernaudat, Ludovic; García, Oseas

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.102

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Similarly, Hg pollution related to historical Hg mines and use of Hg for gold mining during the California gold rush during the mid-1800 s continues to be a concern for downstream waterbodies (May et al 2000 ; Alpers et al 2006 ). For contemporary ASGM, alternatives to Hg (such as cyanide and borax) have been suggested, but they also represent additional challenges, particularly for subsistence miners with limited resources (Hidayati et al 2009 ; Spiegel and Veiga 2010 ; Velásquez-López et al 2011 ; Veiga et al 2014 ; Cordy et al 2015 ; Køster-Rasmussen et al 2016 ). The agreements outlined in the Minamata Convention may help to regulate Hg trade (see companion paper (Selin et al 2018 ); however, the impact on unregulated Hg markets remains uncertain.…”

Section: Gold Mining and Other Mining Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes

Hsu‐Kim

Eckley

Achá

et al. 2018

Ambio

208

115

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The environmental cycling of mercury (Hg) can be affected by natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Of particular concern is how these disruptions increase mobilization of Hg from sites and alter the formation of monomethylmercury (MeHg), a bioaccumulative form of Hg for humans and wildlife. The scientific community has made significant advances in recent years in understanding the processes contributing to the risk of MeHg in the environment. The objective of this paper is to synthesize the scientific understanding of how Hg cycling in the aquatic environment is influenced by landscape perturbations at the local scale, perturbations that include watershed loadings, deforestation, reservoir and wetland creation, rice production, urbanization, mining and industrial point source pollution, and remediation. We focus on the major challenges associated with each type of alteration, as well as management opportunities that could lessen both MeHg levels in biota and exposure to humans. For example, our understanding of approximate response times to changes in Hg inputs from various sources or landscape alterations could lead to policies that prioritize the avoidance of certain activities in the most vulnerable systems and sequestration of Hg in deep soil and sediment pools. The remediation of Hg pollution from historical mining and other industries is shifting towards in situ technologies that could be less disruptive and less costly than conventional approaches. Contemporary artisanal gold mining has well-documented impacts with respect to Hg; however, significant social and political challenges remain in implementing effective policies to minimize Hg use. Much remains to be learned as we strive towards the meaningful application of our understanding for stakeholders, including communities living near Hg-polluted sites, environmental policy makers, and scientists and engineers tasked with developing watershed management solutions. Site-specific assessments of MeHg exposure risk will require new methods to predict the impacts of anthropogenic perturbations and an understanding of the complexity of Hg cycling at the local scale.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-017-1006-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Gold Mining and Other Mining Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes

Hsu‐Kim

Eckley

Achá

et al. 2018

Ambio

208

115

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“…4 Generally, such equipment cannot be installed in ASGM areas. Because of the difficulty of measuring atmospheric mercury, relatively few studies have focused on concentrations of GEM in the atmosphere [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] compared to studies of mercury in other environmental media and its level of risk to humans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human health risk assessment of atmospheric mercury inhalation around three artisanal small-scale gold mining areas in Indonesia

Nakazawa

Nagafuchi

Kawakami

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci.: Atmos.

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“…In Colombia, on average gold mining activities have produced negative environmental impacts due to the uncontrolled use of Hg (5). One of the most affected ecosystems is the Mojana region, which is considered one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet (6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…En Colombia, las actividades relacionadas con la minería aurífera han producido impactos ambientales negativos debido al uso incontrolado del Hg; en promedio (5). Uno de los ecosistemas más afectados es la región de la Mojana, considerada una de las zonas de mayor biodiversidad del planeta (6).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Distribución espacial y evaluación de la contaminación ambiental por mercurio en la región de la Mojana, Colombia

et al. 2018

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Objetivo. Se evaluó la distribución de mercurio total (HgT) en sedimentos superficiales, peces, cabello, plantas de arroz y macrofitas, como también el índice de geoacumulación por HgT en sedimentos y el potencial de riesgo por consumo de pescado en diferentes municipios afectados por actividades de minería aurífera que se han desarrollado alrededor en la región de la Mojana, Colombia. Materiales y métodos. La concentración de HgT se determinó mediante descomposición térmica, utilizando un analizador directo de mercurio DMA-80. Resultados. En promedio, las concentraciones de HgT en peces fueron 0.223 ± 0.027 μg/g. Del total de las muestras, 11.6% de peces sobrepasaron el límite permisible establecido por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (0.5 μg/g), siendo 4.2% para especies no carnívoras y 7.4% para especies carnívoras. De las especies ícticas, 76.9% presentan valores de índice de riesgo (HI) superiores a 1. El Índice de Geoacumulación (Igeo) en sedimentos, presenta grado de contaminación de no-contaminado a contaminación moderada para las diferentes estaciones de muestreo. La concentración de HgT en cabello osciló entre 0.17 – 8.8 µg/g. 47% de la población supera el límite permisible establecido como referencia por USEPA: 1 µg g-1. Las concentraciones de HgT en macrofitas (Eichhornia crassipes) y plantas de cultivos de arroz fueron superiores en estaciones de muestreo que reciben corrientes de agua que transportan cargas contaminantes desde áreas de explotación mineras, tendencia similar presentada para sedimentos y peces. Conclusiones. Las actividades mineras han generado un proceso de contaminación gradual por Hg en la cadena alimenticia y actualmente los niveles en peces, arroz y cabello representan una seria preocupación para la salud humana.

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Successful airborne mercury reductions in Colombia

Cited by 16 publications

References 15 publications

Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes

Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes

Human health risk assessment of atmospheric mercury inhalation around three artisanal small-scale gold mining areas in Indonesia

Distribución espacial y evaluación de la contaminación ambiental por mercurio en la región de la Mojana, Colombia

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