Proximity to mining industry and respiratory diseases in children in a community in Northern Chile: A cross-sectional study

Herrera, Ronald; Radon, Katja; Ehrenstein, Ondine S. von; Cifuentes, Stella; Muñoz, Daniel Moraga; Berger, Ursula

doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0149-5

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…According to the spatial Bayesian model, closer the residents to the mines more the chances of getting the disease and if it is less than 1.8 KM, the chances of getting the respiratory disease is negligible. These findings of respiratory diseases among coal mine workers are identical to the one found out, and such association in industrial gold or copper mines due to air pollution nearby observed in rural areas of China (Herrera et al, 2016).…”

Section: Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseasesupporting

confidence: 88%

Health implications of exposure to coal mine dust in workers –A Review

Ganesan¹,

Sangeetha²

2019

ijrps

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Major health problem for workers is prevalent in all nations due to occupational hazards. Coal mining is one of the largest and oldest industries in the world. However, no such information is available in the literature regarding the health status of coal mine workers. Coal is a basic necessity for the production of electricity and steel. Along with machines, humans are the workforce in every coal mine industry. Air pollutants and dust mixed with silica are the two major factors that affect the health of coal mine workers. Coal mine workers run the risk of getting respiratory damage due to high levels of dust and other chemical particulate matters. Some of the disorders caused by coal mines are Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD), Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP), Asthma and massive fibrosis. Prolonged exposure to coal mine dust may cause a variety of diseases like Tuberculosis, Chronic Bronchitis, Heart Diseases, Lung Cancer, Pneumonia, liver disease, kidney damage, DM and Reproductive disorders. All these diseases may be induced if mine workers are subjected to prolonged exposure. This review article highlights the outcome of research works done in the past three decades on the health implications of coal mine workers. Further studies are required with respect to the degree of damage to each organ and to prepare a set of guidelines to be followed by coal mine industries to be strictly followed to safeguard the wellbeing of coal mine workers.

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Section: Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseasesupporting

confidence: 88%

Health implications of exposure to coal mine dust in workers –A Review

Ganesan¹,

Sangeetha²

2019

ijrps

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“…Data for the analyses were obtained from a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study [ 14 , 19 ]. In brief, the study included 288 children attending 1st–6th grade at two larger elementary schools in the community (417 were invited to participate, response:

).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the global positioning system (GPS), we established the latitude and longitude coordinates of children’s residences and the primary locations of the mining extraction procedures ( Figure 1 ). Based on this, we calculated residential proximity to the gold and copper mine [ 14 ]. We considered the first and the second distance quartile to each mine and to either mine [ 12 ] as exposed categories and compared them to those living at least within the median distance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Epidemiological studies investigating environmental air pollution from other sources, such as petrochemical industry, wood factories or incinerators [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], consistently indicated associations with asthma and allergies in children. Most of them used proximity to sources as the exposure surrogate [ 9 , 13 , 14 ], and some suggested a threshold value, i.e., a distance beyond which no association of the exposure with the respiratory diseases can be detected [ 8 , 9 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have previously shown associations between distance to open-pit mines and prevalence of respiratory diseases among children living in a rural community in the desert of Northern Chile, where two open-pit mines (one for gold and one for copper) are located close to the community [ 14 ]. Given the dry climate (only 12 days with some rainfall per year), exposure levels might be higher compared to other regions where rain washes out the air pollution every once in a while.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating the Causal Impact of Proximity to Gold and Copper Mines on Respiratory Diseases in Chilean Children: An Application of Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation

Herrera

Berger

Ehrenstein

et al. 2017

IJERPH

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In a town located in a desert area of Northern Chile, gold and copper open-pit mining is carried out involving explosive processes. These processes are associated with increased dust exposure, which might affect children’s respiratory health. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the causal attributable risk of living close to the mines on asthma or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis risk burden in children. Data on the prevalence of respiratory diseases and potential confounders were available from a cross-sectional survey carried out in 2009 among 288 (response: 69%) children living in the community. The proximity of the children’s home addresses to the local gold and copper mine was calculated using geographical positioning systems. We applied targeted maximum likelihood estimation to obtain the causal attributable risk (CAR) for asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and both outcomes combined. Children living more than the first quartile away from the mines were used as the unexposed group. Based on the estimated CAR, a hypothetical intervention in which all children lived at least one quartile away from the copper mine would decrease the risk of rhinoconjunctivitis by 4.7 percentage points (CAR: −4.7; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): −8.4; −0.11); and 4.2 percentage points (CAR: −4.2; 95% CI: −7.9;−0.05) for both outcomes combined. Overall, our results suggest that a hypothetical intervention intended to increase the distance between the place of residence of the highest exposed children would reduce the prevalence of respiratory disease in the community by around four percentage points. This approach could help local policymakers in the development of efficient public health strategies.

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Considering environmental variables in the design of waste dumpsites

Fernando

Claudio

2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Proximity to mining industry and respiratory diseases in children in a community in Northern Chile: A cross-sectional study

Cited by 16 publications

References 38 publications

Health implications of exposure to coal mine dust in workers –A Review

Health implications of exposure to coal mine dust in workers –A Review

Estimating the Causal Impact of Proximity to Gold and Copper Mines on Respiratory Diseases in Chilean Children: An Application of Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation

Considering environmental variables in the design of waste dumpsites

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