Assessing health risk associated with uranium in Rietspruit water, far West Rand goldfield, South Africa

Abstract

Uranium, U, as a toxic element has detrimental radiological and chemical impacts on human health when ingested at elevated concentration in water. The establishment of gold mining operations upstream to the Rietspruit is assumed to be a source of uranium into this water body which ows through residential and agricultural land. Water samples from the stream were collected and analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine the concentration of U. Uranium concentrations above South African regulatory limit were recorded in the stream water which is used for domestic, agricultural and religious activities as observed during eld visits. Results from calculations showed that the maximum annual effective dose within this mining environment was above 1 mSv/year for all age groups. Furthermore, the probability of radiological risk is lower than the chemical risk which is due to the ingestion of U in the Rietspruit water. The chemical risk analysis showed that within 24 km of this mining environment, stream users are in danger of U chemical toxins therefore, it is important to educate the stream users about their health risk of U and recommend adequate interventions by relevant government agencies to this effect.

The Biodiversity, Food Security, and Poverty Nexus in the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone of South Africa

“…These communities use water and soil polluted with dangerous levels of radiation (Bobbins et al 2018) caused by uranium, a by-product of the mining (Winde et al 2019). For example, pursuing food security-related activities, such as fishing, cattle raising, and subsistence farming, comes with inherent hazards in the post-mining landscape of the West Rand, Gauteng province (Raji et al 2021).…”