Occupational and environmental mercury exposure among small-scale gold miners in the Talensi-Nabdam District of Ghana's Upper East region.
Occupational and environmental mercury exposure among small-scale gold miners in the Talensi-Nabdam District of Ghana's Upper East region.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.08.022
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发表时间：
2010-11-15
影响因子：
9.8
通讯作者：
Basu, Niladri
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Paruchuri, Yasaswi;Siuniak, Amanda;Johnson, Nicole;Levin, Elena;Mitchell, Katherine;Goodrich, Jaclyn M.;Renne, Elisha P.;Basu, Niladri
在加纳，小规模金矿开采中普遍使用汞，但人们对此类活动对社区居民和矿工的污染程度知之甚少。2009年夏季，在加纳上东地区Talensi-Nabdam区的一个采矿社区招募了120名参与者，评估了元素汞的职业暴露（通过尿液采样）和甲基汞的饮食暴露（通过头发采样）。超过五分之一的参与者尿汞水平中等偏高（>10微克/升），5%的参与者尿汞水平超过世卫组织指导值50微克/升。当参与者按职业分层时，采矿业的活跃分子汞含量最高。具体来说，燃烧汞合金的人尿汞含量（中位数：43.8 µg/L;平均值±标准差：171.1 ± 296.5 µg/L; n=5）显著高于机械操作员中测量的中值（11.6微克/升，n=4），特许经营者/业主（5.6 µg/L，n=11），爆破和凿矿的挖掘机（4.9 µg/L，n=33），筛选和研磨破碎矿石的个人（2.2 µg/L，n=47），支持工人（0.5 µg/L，n=14）以及在采矿部门没有角色的人（2.5 µg/L，n=6）。有一个显着的积极的斯皮尔曼鱼消费和头发汞水平（r = 0.30）之间的相关性，但不与尿汞（r = 0.18），虽然需要进一步的研究，以记录哪些类型的鱼消费以及部分大小。鉴于加纳有20万人从事小规模金矿开采业，而且预计加纳和世界许多其他地区的这一数字还将增长，因此，阐明这些社区的汞接触途径对于帮助制定可最大限度地减少健康风险的政策和行为至关重要。
Mercury use in small-scale gold mining is ubiquitous across Ghana but little is known about the extent to which such activities have contaminated community residents and miners. Here, occupational exposures to elemental mercury (via urine sampling) and dietary exposures to methylmercury (via hair sampling) were assessed among 120 participants recruited from a mining community located in the Talensi-Nabdam District of Ghana’s Upper East region during summer 2009. More than one-fifth of the participants had moderately high levels of urinary mercury (>10 µg/L) and 5% had urine mercury levels that exceeded the WHO guideline value of 50 µg/L. When participants were stratified according to occupation, those active in the mining industry had the highest mercury levels. Specifically, individuals that burned amalgam had urine mercury levels (median: 43.8 µg/L; mean ± SD: 171.1 ± 296.5 µg/L; n=5) significantly higher than median values measured in mechanical operators (11.6 µg/L, n=4), concession managers/owners (5.6 µg/L, n=11), excavators that blast and chisel ore (4.9 µg/L, n=33), individuals that sift and grind crushed ore (2.2 µg/L, n=47), support workers (0.5 µg/L, n=14), and those with no role in the mining sector (2.5 µg/L, n=6). There was a significant positive spearman correlation between fish consumption and hair mercury levels (r = 0.30) but not with urine mercury (r = 0.18) though further studies are needed to document which types of fish are consumed as well as portion sizes. Given that 200,000 people in Ghana are involved in the small-scale gold mining industry and that the numbers are expected to grow in Ghana and many other regions of the world, elucidating mercury exposure pathways in such communities is important to help shape policies and behaviors that may minimize health risks.
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影响因子：
8.3
作者：
Hilson, Gavin;Hilson, Christopher J.;Pardie, Sandra
通讯作者：
Pardie, Sandra
影响因子：
9.8
作者：
van Straaten, P
通讯作者：
van Straaten, P
影响因子：
9.8
作者：
PALHETA, D;TAYLOR, A
通讯作者：
TAYLOR, A
影响因子：
8.3
作者：
Lebel, J;Mergler, D;Dolbec, J
通讯作者：
Dolbec, J
影响因子：
10.2
作者：
Hilson, Gavin;Pardie, Sandra
通讯作者：
Pardie, Sandra