Mercury Exposure and Its Health Effects in Workers in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector—A Systematic Review

Abstract

Gold is one of the most valuable materials but is frequently extracted under circumstances that are hazardous to artisanal and small-scale gold miners’ health. A common gold extraction method uses liquid mercury, leading to a high exposure in workers. Therefore, a systematic review according to the PRISMA criteria was conducted in order to examine the health effects of occupational mercury exposure. Researching the databases PubMed®, EMBASE® and Web of ScienceÔ yielded in a total of 10,589 results, which were screened by two independent reviewers. We included 19 studies in this review. According to the quantitative assessment, occupational mercury exposure may cause a great variety of signs and symptoms, in particular in the field of neuro-psychological disorders, such as ataxia, tremor or memory problems. However, many reported symptoms were largely unspecific, such as hair loss or pain. Most of the included studies had a low methodological quality with an overall high risk of bias rating. The results demonstrate that occupational mercury exposure seriously affects miners’ health and well-being.

The Toxicity of Mercury and Its Chemical Compounds: Molecular Mechanisms and Environmental and Human Health Implications: A Comprehensive Review

“…In general, mercury absorption is relatively lower from the digestive tract; however, a more significant amount might enter the body by accidental or suicidal ingestions . Besides, elemental mercury exposure, such as that experienced by artisanal and small-scale gold mining workers, has been linked to kidney damage . In an earlier study, a relation between enhancing mercury exposure with elevated urinary mercury levels (18% to 52% among 8–18-year-old individuals), increased mercury body burden (5–10% increase in mercury-associated porphyrins), and other evidence was shown to increase kidney damage (Figure ).…”

Furious depletion—Conceptualizing artisan mining and extractivism through gender, race, and environment

“…That is not brought into question here. What is brought forth rather, is the politics of constructing environmental harm as the responsibility of artisan miners whose own health and environment are being threatened (Taux et al, 2022).…”

Revisión Literaria del Convenio Internacional Puyango – Tumbes bajo una mirada socio – económica

“…En la misma línea, (Harari et al, 2012) manifestaron en su estudio que una proporción fluctuante de los mineros de oro examinados clínicamente manifestaron síntomas particulares, como trastornos neuropsicológicos, decoloración de las encías o problemas sociales. Así, (Taux et al, 2022) detectó una correlación positiva estadísticamente significativa entre las variables en cuestión, aseverando el peligro de la sociedad al estar en contacto con tales malas prácticas que simbolizan, sin embargo, el supuesto desarrollo económico. Cabe precisar, por último, que respecto al tema salud de las personas que viven en áreas aledañas o que se involucran económicamente con el proyecto, se han registrado varias muertes por accidentes geológicos, mala tecnología (especialmente en minería ilegal) y manejo inadecuado de ciertos materiales (Mestanza-Ramón et al, 2022).…”