Abstract
The rapid expansion of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry in developing countries has marginalized the local communities in poverty, and resulted in occupational exposure to mercury via the gold extraction process. We investigated the mercury exposure of the mining workers lived inside and outside the mining area. Based on the occupations of the contributors, the hair samples were divided into three subgroups: directly exposed, indirectly exposed, and a control. A total of 81 hair samples were analyzed by particle-induced X-ray emission spectrometry. The median mercury concentration was highest in the hair from the directly exposed group (12.82 μg/g hair) (control group median: 4.8 μg/g hair, p < 0.05), and the concentrations in hair from 45 respondents exceeded the Human Biomonitoring I (HBM I) threshold limit. Mercury concentrations were also elevated in the hair from the indirectly exposed group (median 7.64 μg/g hair, p < 0.05), and concentrations in hair from 24 respondents exceeded the HBM I threshold limits. Exposure to mercury during ASGM presents health risks and is harmful for the miners; mercury is also at hazardous levels for people who live in the mining area but who are not engaged in mercury-based gold extraction.
Highlights
The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry can be defined as the informal mining activities by individuals, groups, families, or cooperatives that use cheap technologies to search for, extract, and process gold ore [1,2]
From the 81 scalp hair samples collected, 45 were from artisanal and small-scale gold miners works in gold processing gold ore directly exposed mercury, 25 were from miners who work in gold extraction but indirectly exposed by mercury, 11 were from the control group of civil servants, farmers, fishermen, housewives, traders, etc
This study evaluated Hg concentrations in hair from 81 participants, divided into an exposed group and a control group, who live around the artisanal and small-scale gold mining site in a tropical savanna landscape
Summary
The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry can be defined as the informal mining activities by individuals, groups, families, or cooperatives that use cheap technologies to search for, extract, and process gold ore [1,2]. The ASGM industry, which produces approximately 300–400 tons of gold annually, has rapidly expanded over the last two decades [3,4]. It is estimated that more than 15 million people depend directly, and 100 million people depend indirectly, on the gold mining sector [5]. The price of gold has increased year by year and the use of mercury has shown an increasing trend [6]. The ASGM sector is responsible for 37% of all anthropogenic mercury emissions to the environment, and mercury-based gold extraction has resulted in the emergence of Toxics 2017, 5, 7; doi:10.3390/toxics5010007 www.mdpi.com/journal/toxics.
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