ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2014
Mercury exposure and health impacts among individuals in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining community: a comprehensive review.
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 123 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
123 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 448 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mercury Exposure and Its Health Effects in Workers in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of N,N'bis-(2-mercaptoethyl) isophthalamide on mercury intoxication: a randomized controlled trial.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Trial
- Human Mercury Biomonitoring Under the Minamata Convention: Blood, Urine, Hair, and Tissue Biomarkers (2000-2026).Biological trace element research · 2026Review
- Mitochondria-Targeted Colorimetric and Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for HgMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Large Stokes Shift Reaction-Based Colorimetric and Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for HgJournal of fluorescence · 2026Article
- Toxic Metals in a Green Transition: Global Health Risks, Sources, and Policy Responses-Insights from the Munich Toxic Metals Symposium 2025.Annals of global health · 2026Review
- Public health impacts of gold mining in Ghana: A scoping review of environmental exposures and intersectoral resilience strategies.Journal of public health in Africa · 2026Review
- Mercury and cyanide exposure and safety practices in Sudanese artisanal gold mining communities, 2022.Environmental and occupational health practice · 2026Article
- A mitochondria-targeted NIR ratiometric and colorimetric fluorescent probe with large Stokes shift for HgMikrochimica acta · 2025Article
- Trace element imbalances in selenium and mercury in relation to mammographic density and breast cancer progression: a case‒control study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Novel DLLME-Based Approach for the Spectrophotometric Determination of Mercury in Environmental Samples Using the Fe(II) Phthalocyanine Sensor.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Mercury Exposure, Gene Expression, and Intelligence Quotient in Afro-Descendant Children from Two Colombian Regions.Toxics · 2025Article
- Overview of the Indigenous health of the Yanomami ethnic group in Brazil: A Public Health Emergency.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Assessment of total mercury (Hg) in soil, sediment, and tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) and health risk assessment among residents of Kitwe mining area, Zambia.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study assessing mercury exposure and poisoning among workers in informal gold mines in French Guiana.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Article
- Mercury Levels in Hair of Pregnant Women in Tumbes, Peru: A Cross-Sectional Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- A Reaction-Based ESIPT Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of HgJournal of fluorescence · 2025Article
- Global mercury concentrations in biota: their use as a basis for a global biomonitoring framework.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2024Review
- Review
63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMercury (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.
objectiveThe 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.
methodsWe 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.
conclusionsASGM 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.