Toxicity Assessment in Artisanal Miners from Low-level Mercury Exposure in Bornuur and Jargalant Soums of Mongolia

Duvjir, Suvd; Rendoo, Davaadorj; Baatartsol, Dayanjav; Surenjav, Unursaikhan; Tsengelmaa, Myagmar; Oyu, Tsogbayar; Yunden, Sonom; Hagan-Rogers, Ana M.; Blüml, Stephan

doi:10.1016/j.proenv.2015.10.017

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As a consequence mining villages are highly contaminated with mercury leading to a considerable mercury exposure of the general population [ 1 – 3 ]. The continuous exposure to inorganic mercury vapour in ASGM areas leads to chronic health problems, as published in several papers and reviews [ 4 – 30 ]. These articles focus on different aspects; many of them report human biomonitoring results, indicating the high exposure of the miners and the general population; fewer articles concentrate on clinical symptoms related to chronic inorganic mercury exposure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Essential Indicators Identifying Chronic Inorganic Mercury Intoxication: Pooled Analysis across Multiple Cross-Sectional Studies

Stefan

Blüml

Berger³

2016

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe continuous exposure to inorganic mercury vapour in artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas leads to chronic health problems. It is therefore essential to have a quick, but reliable risk assessing tool to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication. This study re-evaluates the state-of-the-art toolkit to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication by analysing data from multiple pooled cross-sectional studies. The primary research question aims to reduce the currently used set of indicators without affecting essentially the capability to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is performed on established biomonitoring exposure limits for mercury in blood, hair, urine and urine adjusted by creatinine, where the biomonitoring exposure limits are compared to thresholds most associated with chronic inorganic mercury intoxication in artisanal small-scale gold mining.MethodsHealth data from miners and community members in Indonesia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe were obtained as part of the Global Mercury Project and pooled into one dataset together with their biomarkers mercury in urine, blood and hair. The individual prognostic impact of the indicators on the diagnosis of mercury intoxication is quantified using logistic regression models. The selection is performed by a stepwise forward/backward selection. Different models are compared based on the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and Cohen`s kappa is used to evaluate the level of agreement between the diagnosis of mercury intoxication based on the currently used set of indicators and the result based on our reduced set of indicators. The sensitivity analysis of biomarker exposure limits of mercury is based on a sequence of chi square tests.ResultsThe variable selection in logistic regression reduced the number of medical indicators from thirteen to ten in addition to the biomarkers. The estimated level of agreement using ten of thirteen medical indicators and all four biomarkers to diagnose chronic inorganic mercury intoxication yields a Cohen`s Kappa of 0.87. While in an additional stepwise selection the biomarker blood was not selected, the level of agreement based on ten medical indicators and only the three biomarkers urine, urine/creatinine and hair reduced Cohen`s Kappa to 0.46. The optimal cut-point for the biomarkers blood, hair, urine and urine/creatinine were estimated at 11. 6 μg/l, 3.84 μg/g, 24.4 μg/l and 4.26 μg/g, respectively.ConclusionThe results show that a reduction down to only ten indicators still allows a reliable diagnosis of chronic inorganic mercury intoxication. This reduction of indicators will simplify health assessments in artisanal small-scale gold mining areas.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Essential Indicators Identifying Chronic Inorganic Mercury Intoxication: Pooled Analysis across Multiple Cross-Sectional Studies

Stefan

Blüml

Berger³

2016

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lkhasuren et al 2 stated that the high levels of dust associated with coal and gold mining are behind the high and growing number of lung diseases in Mongolia. Suvd et al 6 found typical chronic Hg intoxication symptoms in artisanal miners from gold mining areas in two sums. Recently, Surenbaatar et al 9 identified different patterns of mining's impact on…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its rapid development associated with the intensive release of mining licensing began in the 1990s after the transition to an open economy and is ongoing 4,5 . Simultaneously, the expansion of major official mining operations has been accompanied by artisanal and smallscale mining 6,7 . There are approximately 3,000 deposits and 50 different minerals explored and researched in Mongolia 1 , with the most economically important and mined commodities being black and brown coal, fluorite, Au, Cu, Ag, Mo, Pb and Zn 8,9 .However, mining development and related economic growth have accelerated land degradation 10 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The impacts of mining on soil pollution with metal(loid)s in resource-rich Mongolia

Pecina

Juřička

Hedbávný

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As Mongolia is considered one of the most resource extraction-dependent countries globally, significant mining-related environmental and human health risks are expected. The aim of this study was to (I) assess the impacts of mining on soil pollution with metals in Mongolia's key coal mining towns (Baganuur, Nalaikh and Sharyn Gol) and (II) review the current knowledge on soil pollution with metal(loid)s and related health risks in Mongolia. The results showed predominantly low soil contents of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn and a related absence of severe pollution and potential health risk in the coal mining towns. Urban design, rather than the presence of mines, controlled the pollution distribution. Despite the methodological shortcomings of several studies on soil pollution in Mongolia, their results suggest a similarly low threat in the three largest cities (Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Erdenet) and several mining areas. While the generally highlighted risk of As seems like an artificially escalated issue, the content of Cr in urban soil may be a neglected threat. Further pollution research in Mongolia should focus on street dust and drinking water pollution.

show abstract

“…In this dynamic, our study showed that majority of dentists (60%) in Dakar have a plan to replace dental amalgam with their alternatives (examples: glass-ionomers and composites). Currently, there is no longer any doubt about the toxicity of mercury because it has caused a lot of damage, especially in all the continents [25,26]. But debate on dangers of dental amalgam remains mixed as there is not yet unanimity on whether dental amalgam represents a danger to human health or not.…”

Section: Level Of Application Of the Minamata Conventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Assessment of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Dentistry in Senegal

Touré

2021

OAJT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ContextNowadays, human activities of all kinds have led to widespread pollution. Pollution caused by the release of harmful substances such as metals found in the environment and or in processed food is an ongoing health concern. Some of these released metals have a known biological role whereas others such as cadmium (cd), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) have no known biological role and cause harmful effects even at low doses. Mercury (Hg) is an element naturally present in the environment, mainly resulting from volcanic actions, weathering of rocks, forest fires, etc. [1]. The problem of the toxicity of Hg is mainly justified by human activities resulting in the release of large amounts of mercury into the environment, which can then circulate freely for thousands of years [2][3][4][5]. Mercury pollution is of international concern because of its considerable potential danger

show abstract

Toxicity Assessment in Artisanal Miners from Low-level Mercury Exposure in Bornuur and Jargalant Soums of Mongolia

Abstract: 2016-12-23T18:44:59

Cited by 8 publications

References 4 publications

Essential Indicators Identifying Chronic Inorganic Mercury Intoxication: Pooled Analysis across Multiple Cross-Sectional Studies

Essential Indicators Identifying Chronic Inorganic Mercury Intoxication: Pooled Analysis across Multiple Cross-Sectional Studies

The impacts of mining on soil pollution with metal(loid)s in resource-rich Mongolia

Initial Assessment of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Dentistry in Senegal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About