Risk Factors for Mercury Exposure of Children in a Rural Mining Town in Northern Chile

Ohlander, Johan; Huber, Stella Maria; Schomaker, Michael; Heumann, Christian; Schierl, Rudolf; Michalke, Bernhard; Jenni, Oskar G.; Caflisch, Jon; Muñoz, Daniel Moraga; Ehrenstein, Ondine S. von; Radon, Katja

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079756

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Another study from 1997 found even higher values in a small sample [ 27 ]. There are more studies that examined mercury levels of mining populations throughout South America, however, those very often used hair samples or in fewer cases finger nail samples to assess it [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gold Mining in Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Mercury in Urine and Medical Symptoms in Miners from Portovelo/Zaruma

Schutzmeier

Berger

Blüml

2016

IJERPH

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Mercury is a toxic metal and is used in small scale gold mining. In Portovelo, Ecuador, mercury has been an environmental and health problem for decades. The target of this study was to assess the mercury concentration in the urine of miners from Portovelo/Zaruma to establish a prevalence of high values. Eight hundred and sixty-five (865) urine samples were collected and analysed for their mercury content, using cold vapor atom absorption spectroscopy. The prevalence of high mercury values (>25 μg/L) was estimated. Forty-four (44) miners with mercury levels >15 μg/L filled in a questionnaire for characteristics and possible confounders, and were examined for intoxication symptoms to establish the ten points medical score sum. The median urine value was 1.8 μg/L; 78.3% of miners were below 7 μg/L and were not at risk of an intoxication, whereas 5.9% of miners exceeded the limit of 25 μg/L and were probable to experience intoxication symptoms. The medical score sum had a range of 2 to 8 points with a median of 6. The low prevalence of high mercury concentrations shows that the politics and techniques to eliminate the use of mercury are being successfully implemented. Further studies are needed to identify factors enabling this process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gold Mining in Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Mercury in Urine and Medical Symptoms in Miners from Portovelo/Zaruma

Schutzmeier

Berger

Blüml

2016

IJERPH

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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%

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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“…Parental questionnaires with instructions were mailed to children’s homes. Further details about the study design are reported in Ohlander et al [ 23 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Herrera¹,

Radon²,

Ehrenstein

et al. 2016

Environ Health

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BackgroundIn a community in northern Chile, explosive procedures are used by two local industrial mines (gold, copper). We hypothesized that the prevalence of asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis in the community may be associated with air pollution emissions generated by the mines.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 288 children (aged 6–15 years) was conducted in a community in northern Chile using a validated questionnaire in 2009. The proximity between each child’s place of residence and the mines was assessed as indicator of exposure to mining related air pollutants. Logistic regression, semiparametric models and spatial Bayesian models with a parametric form for distance were used to calculate odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals.ResultsThe prevalence of asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis was 24 and 34 %, respectively. For rhinoconjunctivitis, the odds ratio for average distance between both mines and child’s residence was 1.72 (95 % confidence interval 1.00, 3.04). The spatial Bayesian models suggested a considerable increase in the risk for respiratory diseases closer to the mines, and only beyond a minimum distance of more than 1800 m the health impact was considered to be negligible.ConclusionThe findings indicate that air pollution emissions related to industrial gold or copper mines mainly occurring in rural Chilean communities might increase the risk of respiratory diseases in children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0149-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Risk Factors for Mercury Exposure of Children in a Rural Mining Town in Northern Chile

Cited by 21 publications

References 22 publications

Gold Mining in Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Mercury in Urine and Medical Symptoms in Miners from Portovelo/Zaruma

Gold Mining in Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Mercury in Urine and Medical Symptoms in Miners from Portovelo/Zaruma

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

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

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