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Review
. 2014 Jul;122(7):667-72.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1307864. Epub 2014 Mar 28.

Mercury exposure and health impacts among individuals in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining community: a comprehensive review

Herman Gibb  1 , Keri Grace O'Leary
Affiliations
Review

Mercury exposure and health impacts among individuals in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining community: a comprehensive review

Herman Gibb et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Mercury (Hg) is used in gold mining to extract gold from ore by forming "amalgam"-a mixture composed of approximately equal parts mercury and gold. Approximately 15 million people, including approximately 3 million women and children, participate in artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in developing countries. Thirty-seven percent of global air emissions of Hg are produced by ASGM. The recently adopted Minamata Convention calls for nations to gather health data, train health-care workers, and raise awareness in regard to ASGM activity.

Objective: The purpose of our review was to evaluate the current literature regarding the health effects of Hg among those working and/or living in or near ASGM communities.

Methods: We searched PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar for studies relating to health effects and biomarkers of Hg exposure in ASGM communities. Articles published from 1990 through December 2012 were evaluated for relevance.

Discussion: Studies reporting health assessments, kidney dysfunction, neurological disorders and symptoms, and immunotoxicity/autoimmune dysfunction in individuals living in or near an ASGM community were identified. More than 60 studies that measured biomarkers of Hg exposure in individuals living in or near ASGM communities were also identified. These studies, conducted in 19 different countries in South America, Asia, and Africa, demonstrated that hair and urine concentrations are well above World Health Organization health guidance values in ASGM communities.

Conclusions: ASGM workers and their families are exposed to Hg vapor, and workers, workers' families, and residents of nearby and downstream communities are consuming fish heavily contaminated with methylmercury.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the WHO.

The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Means (horizontal blue lines) and ranges (vertical lines) of urinary Hg found in ASGM populations. The red line indicating “Neurological symptoms” designates the 100 μg/g-creatinine value for neurological effects identified by WHO (1991). The black line indicating “Kidney effects” designates the 50 μg/g-creatinine concentration at which renal tubular effects are expected to occur (WHO 2000). For more information, see Supplemental Material, Table S4. References that appear on the x-axis more than once indicate that the study included more than one study group [e.g., merchants and miners in Harari et al. (2012)]. aThe highest value for data in this category was 1697.39 μ/g-creatinine. bThe lowest value for data in this study was < LOD; the highest value was 1697 μg/g-creatinine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Means (horizontal blue lines) and ranges (vertical lines) of hair Hg of women in studies of residents of ASGM communities. PTWI, provisional tolerable weekly intake. For more information, see Supplemental Material, Table S1. aThe lowest value for these studies was < LOD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Means (horizontal blue lines) and ranges (vertical lines) of hair Hg of children and infants in studies of residents of ASGM communities. PTWI, provisional tolerable weekly intake. For more information, see Supplemental Material, Table S2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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