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Xu Z, Ito L, Dos Muchangos LS, Tokai A. Health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis of agricultural soil remediation for tailing dam failure in Jinding mining area, SW China. Environ Geochem Health 2023; 45:3759-3775. [PMID: 36513912 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-022-01445-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The impact of the tailing dams and the economic feasibility of the remediation process is significant for future risk management for tailing dams. In this research, we develop a hypothetical failure scenario for a tailing dam in the Jinding mining area, Southwest China. We assess the exposure with the Geo-Environmental Risk Assessment System, tier-1 model, and health impact with Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY). Cost and benefit are also analyzed for the following clean-up process. The result shows that the exposure dose (mg/kg-BW/d) of As, Cd, and Pb right after the dam failure is 1.07 × 10-2 for As, 1.76 × 10-4 for Cd, and 5.68 × 10-3 for Pb, respectively. The DALY caused by heavy metal exposure is 2.63 × 10-2 DALY per year, which significantly exceeds the tolerable level. This indicates that the tailing dam failure will pose a high health risk to the residents, and remediation is necessary. After remediation, the DALY is 1.24 × 10-8 DALY per year, indicating the clean-up process effectively reduces the resident's health impact. From the financial point of view, the net present value of the clean-up is $- 1.02 × 107. This indicates that the clean-up process is not economically feasible. Sensitivity analysis shows that the amount of released tailing influences the output result. The time span for benefit estimation is also an important issue. This research shows that the impact of a tailing dam failure will be severe, and remediation may be effective but economically infeasible. Therefore, preventing tailing dam failure is the most crucial task for the local government.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongyu Xu
- Laboratory of Environmental Management, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
| | - Lisa Ito
- Laboratory of Environmental Management, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Leticia Sarmento Dos Muchangos
- Laboratory of Environmental Management, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Akihiro Tokai
- Laboratory of Environmental Management, Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
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Addai-Arhin S, Novirsa R, Jeong H, Phan QD, Hirota N, Ishibashi Y, Shiratsuchi H, Arizono K. Mercury waste from artisanal and small-scale gold mining facilities: a risk to farm ecosystems-a case study of Obuasi, Ghana. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2023; 30:4293-4308. [PMID: 35969344 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-22456-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Frequent discharge of mercury waste from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) facilities into nearby farms may contaminate foodstuffs and the entire farms. High contamination levels may result in ecological risks to the soil, plants, animals, humans, and the entire farm ecosystem. This original research is the first study within the catchment areas that describes the effects of mercury waste on the entire farm ecosystem. In this study, the contamination levels and the associated ecological risks of farmland soils, plantains, and cassavas from farms sited near ASGM facilities in four communities around Obuasi, Ghana, were evaluated using the Hakanson (1980) model. Results showed that all samples except for the edible parts of plantains from Tweapease, Nyamebekyere, and Ahansonyewodea and plantain peels from Nyamebekyere and Ahansonyewodea were contaminated and may pose moderate to very high ecological risks. All farms were also contaminated and may pose considerable to very high ecological risks. The farms at Odumase were the highest contaminated with degree of contamination (Cdeg) above 20, while those at Ahansonyewodea were the least contaminated with Cdeg = 8.1. This meant that farms at Odumase may pose the highest potential ecological risk (Per) to plants, animals, humans, and the entire farm ecosystem since Per > 600, while the farms at Ahansonyewodea may pose the least ecological risks with Per = 324. There is, therefore, the need for strict control of ASGM activities in these study areas to preserve the integrity of the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvester Addai-Arhin
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
- Pharmaceutical Science Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kumasi Technical University, P.O. Box, 854, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Randy Novirsa
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Huiho Jeong
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Quang Dinh Phan
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Nana Hirota
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Ishibashi
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Hideki Shiratsuchi
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan
| | - Koji Arizono
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100, Tsukide, Higashi-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan.
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-Ku, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan.
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Allan-Blitz LT, Goldfine C, Erickson TB. Environmental and health risks posed to children by artisanal gold mining: A systematic review. SAGE Open Med 2022; 10:20503121221076934. [PMID: 35173966 PMCID: PMC8841918 DOI: 10.1177/20503121221076934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
There are an estimated 5 million children working in artisanal and small-scale gold mines worldwide; however, the hazards are poorly characterized and often underreported. We systematically reviewed the literature on reports of hazards among children as a consequence of such activities through PubMed database using pre-defined search terms. We identified 113 articles published between 1984 and 2021 from 31 countries. Toxicological hazards were reported in 91 articles, including mercury, lead, and arsenic. Infectious hazards, noted in 18 articles, included malaria, cholera, and hepatitis. Six articles reported occupational hazards, including malnutrition, heat stroke, and reactive airway disease. Three articles reported traumatic hazards, including cave-ins, burns, animal attacks, falls, and weapon-inflected wounds. Those findings likely indicate a profound underreporting of the prevalence and consequences of such hazards among children. More work is needed both to characterize the burdens of those hazards and to address the underlying drivers of child labor in those settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lao-Tzu Allan-Blitz
- Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Charlotte Goldfine
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Timothy B Erickson
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Humanitarian Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Addai-Arhin S, Novirsa R, Jeong HH, Phan QD, Hirota N, Ishibashi Y, Shiratsuchi H, Arizono K. The human health risks assessment of mercury in soils and plantains from farms in selected artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities around Obuasi, Ghana. J Appl Toxicol 2021; 42:258-273. [PMID: 34133775 DOI: 10.1002/jat.4209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Food consumption remains the commonest pathway through which humans ingest higher levels of mercury (Hg). Long-term exposure to Hg through Hg-contaminated food may result in acute or chronic Hg toxicity. Incessant discharge of Hg waste from ASGM facilities into nearby farms contaminates food crops. Ingestion of such food crops by residents may lead to detrimental human health effects. The human health risks upon exposure to total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in farmland soils and plantains from farms sited near ASGM facilities were studied in four communities around Obuasi, Ghana. The human health risk assessment was evaluated using hazard quotient (HQ), estimated average daily intake (e AvDI), hazard index (HI) and Hg elimination and retention kinetics. Tweapease, Nyamebekyere and Ahansonyewodea had HQ, e AvDI and HI for THg of plantains for both adults and children below the recommended USEPA limit of 1, 3 × 10-4 mg/kg/day and 1, respectively. Odumase had HQ, e AvDI and HI for THg of plantains for both adults and children, higher than the guideline values. This meant that only Odumase may cause non-carcinogenic human health effects upon repeated exposure. The HQ, e AvDI and HI values of MeHg for all the study areas were far below guideline values, hence may not pose any non-carcinogenic human health risks to residents even upon repeated exposure. Retention and elimination kinetics of Hg also showed that only plantains from Odumase may pose significant non-carcinogenic human health risks to residents because the final amount of inorganic mercury exceeded the extrapolated USEPA guideline value of 0.393 μg/kg/year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvester Addai-Arhin
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Pharmaceutical Science Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Randy Novirsa
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Hui Ho Jeong
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Quang Dinh Phan
- Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Nana Hirota
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Ishibashi
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Hideki Shiratsuchi
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Koji Arizono
- Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.,Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
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