Assessment of Mercury Pollution in Rivers and Streams around Artisanal Gold Mining Areas of the Birim North District of Ghana

Nartey, Vincent Kodzo; Klake, Raphael K.; Hayford, Ebenezer; Doamekpor, Louis Korbla; Appoh, Richard

doi:10.4236/jep.2011.29141

Cited by 25 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Overall, the results of this study are concordant with other global studies which observed elevated THg concentrations in water and sediments, with patterns of decreasing THg concentration with distance from ASGM sources (Gray et al., 2002; Nartey et al., 2011; Diringer et al., 2015).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda

Omara

Karungi

Kalukusu

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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The mercury content and the contamination characteristics of water, sediments, edible muscles of a non-piscivorous fish (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) from Namukombe stream in Busia gold district of Uganda were evaluated. Human health risk assessment from consumption of contaminated fish and yams as well as contact with contaminated sediments from the stream were performed. Forty-eight (48) samples of water (n = 12), sediments (n = 12), fish (n = 12) and yams (n = 12) were taken at intervals of 10 m from three gold recovery sites located at up, middle and down sluices of the stream and analyzed for total mercury (THg) using US EPA method 1631. Results (presented as means ± standard deviations) showed that water in the stream is polluted with mercury in the range of < detection limit to 1.21 ± 0.040 mg/L while sediments contain mean THg from < detection limit to 0.14 ± 0.040 ugg−1. Mean THg content of the edible muscles of O. nilotica ranged from < detection limit to 0.11 ± 0.014 ugg−1while D. alata contained from < detection limit to 0.30 ± 0.173 ugg−1mean THg. The estimated daily intake ranged from 0.0049 ugg−1day−1 to 0.0183 ugg−1day−1 and 0.0200 ugg−1day−1 to 0.0730 ugg−1day−1 for fish consumed by adults and children respectively. The corresponding health risk indices ranged from 0.0123 to 0.0458 and 0.0500 to 0.1830. Estimated daily intake was from 0.0042 ugg−1day−1 to 0.1279 ugg−1day−1 and 0.0130 ugg−1day−1 to 0.3940 ugg−1day−1 for D. alata consumed by adults and children respectively. The health risk indices recorded were from 0.011 to 0.320 and 0.033 to 0.985 for adults and children respectively. The mean THg content of the sediments, edible muscles of O. nilotica and D. alata were within acceptable WHO/US EPA limits. About 91.7% of the water samples had mean THg above US EPA maximum permissible limit for mercury in drinking water. Consumption of D. alata grown within 5 m radius up sluice of Namukombe stream may pose deleterious health risks as reflected by the health risk index of 0.985 being very close to one. From the pollution and risk assessments, mercury use should be delimited in Syanyonja artisanal gold mining areas. A solution to abolish mercury-based gold mining in the area needs to be sought as soon as possible to avert the accentuating health, economic and ecological disaster arising from the continuous discharge of mercury into the surrounding areas. Other mercury-free gold recovering methods such as use of borax, sluice boxes and direct panning should be encouraged. Waste management system for contaminated wastewater, used mercury bottles and tailings should be centralized.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda

Omara

Karungi

Kalukusu

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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Section: Dioscorea Alatasupporting

confidence: 91%

Peer Review #3 of "Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda (v0.1)"

2019

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The health risk indices recorded were from 0.011 to 0.320 and 0.033 to 0.985 for adults and children respectively. The mean THg content of the sediments, edible muscles of O. nilotica and D. alata were within acceptable WHO/US EPA limits. About 91.7% of the water samples had mean THg above US EPA maximum permissible limit for mercury in drinking water. Consumption of D. alata grown within 5 m radius up sluice of Namukombe stream may pose deleterious health risks as reflected by the health risk index of 0.985 being very close to one. From the pollution and risk assessments, mercury use should be delimited in Syanyonja artisanal gold mining areas. Solution to abolish mercury-based gold mining in the area need to be sought as soon as possible to avert the accentuating health, economic and ecological disaster arising from the continuous discharge of mercury into the surrounding areas. Other mercury-free gold recovering methods such as use of borax, sluice boxes and direct panning should be encouraged. Waste management system for contaminated wastewater, used mercury bottles and tailings should be centralized.

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“…Additionally, many studies have observed elevated Hg concentrations in downstream water and sediments, with patterns of decreasing THg concentration with distance from ASGM communities [Gray, 2002a;Nartey et al, 2011;Yin et al, 2013;Diringer et al, 2015]. These findings provide strong evidence that Hg utilized in ASGM is entering the environment directly from mining tailings as well as indirectly through local atmospheric deposition (predominantly as inorganic Hg) of the recently emitted Hg.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

Gerson

Driscoll

Hsu‐Kim

et al. 2018

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Gerson, JR, et al. 2018 Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers. Elem Sci Anth, 6: 11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.274 Introduction Mercury (Hg) -predominantly in the form of methylmercury (MeHg) -is a potent neurotoxin that can significantly impair human health [Driscoll et al., 2013]. Prolonged exposure increases the risk for brain and neurological damage, which is especially harmful for pregnant women and children [Harada, 1995; Grandjean et al., 1997;Selin, 2014]. Although there are many potential sources of Hg, direct inhalation from anthropogenic emissions and consumption of fish constitute the major pathways of human exposure. Even when Hg concentrations are low in water, Hg concentrations can reach dangerously high levels in fish due to bioaccumulation and biomagnification [Morel et al., 1998; Driscoll et al., 2007]. Controlling Hg contamination in the environment has been a primary target of local and national health and environmental agendas for decades and, most recently, an issue of international concern addressed by the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in August 2017 [UNEP, 2013;Selin, 2014].The largest source of Hg to the environment is artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which releases 1,400 tons of Hg annually into the air, soil, and water [Schmidt, 2012] and accounts for an estimated 37% of global anthropogenic Hg emissions [Telmer and Veiga, 2009; UNEP, 2013]. In the process of ASGM, liquid elemental Hg (Hg 0 ) is utilized to separate gold from sediments. After the formation of a Hg-gold amalgam, the mixture is heated to create pellets of gold, while the Hg is released into the atmosphere or deposited as mining waste directly into soil and water. Despite the health effects, many of which are unknown to ASGM communities, Hg is used in this process because it is inexpensive to obtain, easy to use, does not require time-consuming processing, and results in a high gold recovery rate [Telmer and Veiga, 2009] It is estimated that more than 10 million people, including over 3 million women and children, work in ASGM across more than 70 developing countries in Asia, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Families directly involved in the mining are exposed daily to levels of Hg vapor that far exceed the World Health Organization's guidelines [Cordy et al., 2011] The largest source of global mercury (Hg) anthropogenic inputs to the environment is derived from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities in developing countries. While our understanding of global Hg emissions from ASGM is growing, there is limited empirical documentation about the levels of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) contamination near ASGM sites. We measured THg and MeHg concentrations in soil (n = 119), sediment (n = 22), and water (n = 25) from four active ASGM villages and one non-ASGM reference village in Senegal, West Africa. Nearly all samples had THg and MeHg concent...

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Assessment of Mercury Pollution in Rivers and Streams around Artisanal Gold Mining Areas of the Birim North District of Ghana

Cited by 25 publications

References 7 publications

Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda

Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda

Peer Review #3 of "Mercuric pollution of surface water, superficial sediments, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica Linnaeus 1758 [Cichlidae]) and yams (Dioscorea alata) in auriferous areas of Namukombe stream, Syanyonja, Busia, Uganda (v0.1)"

Senegalese artisanal gold mining leads to elevated total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in soils, sediments, and rivers

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