| MERCURY IN BRAZILIAN ARTISANAL MINING : RELATIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND HUMAN HEALTH Francisco Souza1; 1IFPB, Campina Grande, Brazil; PAPER: 160/Environmental/Regular (Oral) SCHEDULED: 14:50/Wed. 30 Nov. 2022/Arcadia 2 ABSTRACT: Mining has always been marked by exposure to various risks capable of promoting pathologies to workers [1]. Physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and accident risks are common in the mineral extractive sector. Mineral deposit mining and concentration processes can release toxic metals into the environment, e.g. cyanides and mercury, used respectively in the leaching and amalgamation of gold. Mining is one of the main sources of environmental contamination by heavy metals, whose main vectors are wind and erosion [2]. They also have high levels of reactivity and bioaccumulation, that is, they are able to trigger several non-metabolizable chemical reactions, which makes them remain cumulative along the food chain [3]. Among the metals released into the environment, mercury is considered the most toxic potential and the only one that has been proven to undergo biomagnification along the trophic chain, also suffering, organification and reaching its most toxic form (methylmercury) in the aquatic system [4]. The consumption of contaminated fish is the main route of human exposure to methylmercury. Artisanal mining, which uses gold-mercury amalgam to extract gold from the ore, is a significant source of exposure for workers and surrounding populations. Miners burn the gold-mercury amalgam to vaporize the mercury and recover the gold. In addition, metal mercury residues are usually dumped near or into watercourses and can lead to high concentrations of methylmercury in fish. The consumption of contaminated fish by community residents can result in the ingestion of high levels of methylmercury [5]. References: REFERENCES: [1] M. N. A. de Sousa, A. L. D. Bezerra, B. M. O. Santos, J. E. Z., D. Bertoncello, P. R. V. Quemelo. Ver. Cient. Eletr. de Eng. Produção. 1099–1120. 2015.. [2] J. M. Navarro, R. Torres, K. Acuña, C. Duarte, P. H. Manriquez, M. Lardies, N. A. Lagos, C. Vargas, V. Aguilera. Chemosphere. 2013. 1242-1248. [3] M. Cardoso. <https://www.infoescola.com/quimica/metais-pesados/>. 2011. [4] B. S. Homrich, C. R. P. Fernandes, J. R. G. Viera. IBEAS. 2014. 1-7. [5] Who. IOMC. 2008. 169 pp. |
