Eight goats were also reported dead after drinking water contaminated with mercury a fortnight ago. On, Ministry of Health received notification through Daily Monitor newspaper of over 100 suspected Skin infections among ASGM in Kabisha and Chepkarat parishes, Amudat District. The aim of our policy brief is to recommend control interventions to both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Water and Environment of Uganda to control the wide use of Mercury in ASGM industries in Uganda. The ASGM sector is responsible for 37% of all anthropogenic mercury emissions to the environment. In developing countries, the ASGM industry, which produces approximately 300–400 tons of gold annually, has rapidly expanded over the last two decades and is estimated that more than 15 million people depend directly, and 100 million people depend indirectly, on the gold mining sec- tor. This process presents three major potential routes of mercury exposure(1) miners can have dermal exposure when they mix elemental mercury with gold ore (2) elemental and inorganic mercury vapors can be inhaled when amalgams are heated and (3) methyl mercury can be consumed from contaminated fish. When it enters the water, it can transform into organic mercury com- pounds, such as methyl mercury, and bio accumulate in fish. The mercury evaporates into the environment, while the gold stays behind. To remove the mercury, its typically heated in an amalgam furnace. Artisanal Gold Miners use mercury to extract gold from ore by forming ―amalgam‖-a mixture composed of approximately equal parts of Mercury and gold. Methyl mercury then bio accumulates in fish, shellfish and plants which can be consumed by Humans. Once in the environment, elemental mercury can be transformed by bacteria into methyl mercury. Mercury is found in various Inorganic (elemental) and organic forms (Methyl mercury). It is distributed through- out the environment by both natural and human processes. Mercury (Hg) is a naturally occurring element found in air, water, and soil. BackgroundĬurrently there is no policy on the application of Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining (ASGM) industries in Uganda and yet Mercury is a toxic metal that can cause a variety of adverse health effects when exposed to the body depending on the form of mercury, the pathway, quantity, and duration of exposure. Thus, our findings recommended the need for a policy to reduce the use of mercury exposure in artisanal gold mining communities. All residents, including children and adults had exposure to mercury during the various stages of gold processing. Our findings suggest that mercury exposure may be widespread in AGM industries in Uganda. Dumping of Wastes (water, sand, gold and mercury) in the nearby river was also observed. 50% had stood in a dam of water mixed with mercury, while 42% had mixed mercury with gold and water. 63% of the miners had ever used mercury during gold processing. All the participants inter- viewed appeared to be healthy during the time of this survey. Symptoms included fever (52%), headache (33%), muscle ache (33%), cough (29%), malaria (28%) as well as skin rashes, peeling skin on hand and numbness among 5% of the respondents (figure1. We conducted an epidemiological investigation to quantify mercury exposure among residents of an AGM in Amudat District, determine risk factors for mercury exposure and recommend evidence based control measures. The miners were reported to be engaged in massive use of mercury in purifying gold. On, Ministry of Health received notification through Daily Monitor newspaper of over 100 suspected Skin infections among AGM in Amudat District. Artisanal gold miners (AGM) use Hg to extract gold from Ore. Hg is a toxic metal that can cause a variety of adverse health effects when exposed to the body. Currently there is no policy on the application of Mercury (Hg) in Artisanal Gold Mining (ASGM) and processing industries in Uganda.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |