Global health impact of atmospheric mercury emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining

Pang, Qiaotong; Gu, Jing; Wang, Haikun

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104881

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…S3 ). The aforementioned findings can primarily be attributed to the heavy use of Hg by the ASGM in such regions ( 35 ). The top net Hg outsourcers are mainly developed economies (blue shading, Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

International trade shapes global mercury–related health impacts

Xing,

Chang,

Song

et al. 2023

PNAS Nexus

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Mercury (Hg) is a strong neurotoxin with substantial dangers to human health. Hg undergoes active global cycles, and the emission sources there of can also be geographically relocated through economic trade. Through investigation of a longer chain of the global biogeochemical Hg cycle from economic production to human health, international cooperation on Hg control strategies in Minamata Convention can be facilitated. In the present study, four global models are combined to investigate the effect of international trade on the relocation of Hg emissions, pollution, exposure, and related human health impacts across the world. The results show that 47% of global Hg emissions are related to commodities consumed outside of the countries where the emissions are produced, which has largely influenced the environmental Hg levels and human exposure thereto across the world. Consequently, international trade is found to enable the whole world to avoid 5.7 × 105 points for intelligence quotient (IQ) decline and 1,197 deaths from fatal heart attacks, saving a total of $12.5 billion (2020 USD) in economic loss. Regionally, international trade exacerbates Hg challenges in less developed countries, while resulting in an alleviation in developed countries. The change in economic loss therefore varies from the United States (−$4.0 billion) and Japan (−$2.4 billion) to China (+$2.7 billion). The present results reveal that international trade is a critical factor but might be largely overlooked in global Hg pollution mitigation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

International trade shapes global mercury–related health impacts

Xing,

Chang,

Song

et al. 2023

PNAS Nexus

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“…One key step for emissionexposure-risk models is the link between the environment and food (e.g., freshwater fish, seafood, marine mammals, rice) Hg levels. Existing studies often use the matrices that are most directly associated with the food Hg levels, e.g., atmospheric deposition/marine plankton MeHg concentrations for seafood, atmospheric deposition for freshwater fish, and soil concentrations for rice (Giang and Selin, 2016;Sunderland et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2019;Li et al, 2020b;Zhang et al, 2021;Pang et al, 2022). These environmental matrices can be linked with emissions via atmospheric and oceanic Hg transport and transformation and food web and bioaccumulation models (Schartup et al, 2018).…”

Section: Emissions To Exposure Risk Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter is then applied to quantitative dose-response relationships to obtain the health risk. Some studies also further monetize the health risk by associating with socio-economic parameters such as value of a statistical life and expected lifelong production of newborns (Zhang et al, 2021;Pang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Emissions To Exposure Risk Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, there is incomplete information about dietary intake and the lag between environment and food Hg levels, although some studies simplified it by using a pre-specified constant lagging period. Non-linear relationship also exists for response of food to environmental Hg levels, which is especially important in diagnostic studies (e.g., Pang et al, 2022). Human biomarker data, including hair, blood, and urine are needed to evaluate the estimated population MeHg exposure.…”

Section: Emissions To Exposure Risk Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Multi-Compartment Hg Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP): Mercury modeling to support international environmental policy

Dastoor,

Angot,

Bieser

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. The Multi-Compartment Hg (mercury) Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) is an international multi-model research initiative intended to simulate and analyze the geospatial distributions and temporal trends of environmental Hg to inform the effectiveness evaluations of two multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs): the Minamata Convention on Mercury (MC) and Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). This MCHgMAP overview paper presents its science objectives, background and rationale, experimental design (multi-model ensemble (MME) architecture, inputs and evaluation data, simulations and reporting framework), and methodologies for the evaluation and analysis of simulated environmental Hg levels. The primary goals of the project are to facilitate detection and attribution of recent (observed) and future (projected) spatial patterns and temporal trends of global environmental Hg levels, and identification of key knowledge gaps in Hg science and modeling to improve future effectiveness evaluation cycles of the MEAs. The current advances and challenges of Hg models, emission inventories, and observational data are examined, and an optimized multi-model experimental design is introduced for addressing the key policy questions of the MEAs. A common set of emissions, environmental conditions, and observation datasets are proposed (where possible) to enhance the MME comparability. A novel harmonized simulation approach between atmospheric, land, oceanic and multi-media models is developed to account for the short- and long-term changes in secondary Hg exchanges and to achieve mechanistic consistency of Hg levels across environmental matrices. A comprehensive set of model experiments is developed and prioritized to ensure a systematic analysis and participation of a variety of models from the scientific community.

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“…This can result in toxic effects on aquatic organisms and pose a threat to human health through the food chain (Yoga et al, 2022). A study has shown that atmospheric mercury emissions from ASGM sources have global health impacts (Pang et al, 2022). ASGM is the largest source of mercury pollution in the environment, and mercury accumulation in aquatic organisms ranges from 0.005 mg/kg to 57 mg/kg (Yoga et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of adaptive and sustainable gold ore grinding processes for better environmental and land conditions in the small-scale gold mining sector in Indonesia

Nurjaman,

Titah,

Kawigraha

et al. 2024

J. Degrade. Min. Land Manage.

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The artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector largely relies on mercury in gold processing, posing potential environmental contamination, health issues, and land degradation. In the villages of Tatelu and Talawaan, ASGM operations, guided by local knowledge and resources, have transitioned to using cyanide leaching for gold processing sustainably. These operations utilize andesitic stones from river deposits as grinding media in the grinding process. However, the cyanide leaching results were not optimal, with a gold recovery below 60%. This leaves significant amounts of gold in the waste, necessitating further processing and the incomplete treatment of free cyanide waste. The suboptimal gold recovery in cyanide leaching is attributed to the inadequate grain size liberation during grinding. This study optimized grinding by comparing andesitic stone grinding media with steel balls and rods. The findings indicate that to achieve a grain size of 75% passing 74 um, grinding with andesitic stones takes 4 hours, while steel rods and balls take 3 hours. For a grain size of 75% passing 44 um, grinding with andesitic stones, steel balls, and rods requires 6 hours. With more precise process parameters, locally available andesitic stones can be an effective grinding medium to optimize gold recovery. In line with optimizing gold recovery, this will enhance ASGM's revenue, encouraging the adoption of waste management practices to alleviate environmental impact, health risks, and land degradation. This aligns with the promotion of sustainable practices within the ASGM sector.

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Global health impact of atmospheric mercury emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining

Cited by 13 publications

References 37 publications

International trade shapes global mercury–related health impacts

International trade shapes global mercury–related health impacts

The Multi-Compartment Hg Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP): Mercury modeling to support international environmental policy

Optimization of adaptive and sustainable gold ore grinding processes for better environmental and land conditions in the small-scale gold mining sector in Indonesia

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