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Mercury as a serious health hazard for children in gold mining areas.

Bose-O'Reilly S, Lettmeier B, Matteucci Gothe R, Beinhoff C, Siebert U, Drasch G

Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT—University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Eduard Wallnoefer-Zentrum I, A-6060 Hall i.T., Austria; Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Frauenlobstr. 7a, D-80337 Munich, Germany.

In many developing countries, mercury is used to extract gold from ore in small-scale mining areas. Exposure through mercury in these small-scale mining communities is a serious health hazard, especially to the children living and working there. Many children begin working with immediate contact to mercury from the very early age of seven. In Indonesia and Zimbabwe, 166 children were clinically examined for mercury. The mercury concentration in the blood, urine, and hair was analyzed. Compared to the control groups, the exposed children showed typical symptoms of mercury intoxication, such as ataxia. The children working with mercury had high levels of this substance in the various biomonitors. The exposure derives mainly from the liquid mercury used to bind gold, forming an amalgam. The amalgam is heated and the smelting amalgam releases mercury vapor plus the wanted gold. Mercury vapor in contrast to liquid mercury is highly toxic. This elemental, vaporized mercury is the main form of exposure. Since in over 50 countries children live in small-scale gold mining areas and are exposed in a similar way to mercury, immediate action is needed to reduce this severe chemical health hazard for children. Child labor with hazardous substances such as mercury must be stopped.

Published 18 April 2008 in Environ Res, 107(1): 89-97.
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