ArticleThe Pan African medical journal2016
Exposure of Small-Scale Gold Miners in Prestea to Mercury, Ghana, 2012.
Article in The Pan African medical journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- 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
- Pollution and health risk assessment of drinking water sources within artisanal and small-scale gold mining areas: a case of Asankrangwa District in Ghana.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Mercury and cyanide exposure and safety practices in Sudanese artisanal gold mining communities, 2022.Environmental and occupational health practice · 2026Article
- Health Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposures of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Phthalates, and Semi-Volatile Chlorinated Organic Compounds in Urine of Commercial Fish Smokers, Ghana.Environmental health insights · 2024Article
- Article
- Mercury Exposure in Artisanal Mining: Assessing the Effect of Occupational Activities on Blood Mercury Levels Among Artisanal and Small-Scale Goldminers in Ghana.Biological trace element research · 2022Article
- Mercury (Hg) use and pollution assessment of ASGM in Ghana: challenges and strategies towards Hg reduction.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Review
- Mercury Exposure Among Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Four Regions in Uganda.Journal of health & pollution · 2020Article
- Clinical, Paraclinical, and Evolutionary Profiles of Kidney Failure in Gold Miners Hospitalized in a Nephrological Service in a Sub-Saharan African Country.International journal of nephrology · 2020Article
- Assessment of Total Mercury in Hair, Urine and Fingernails of Small-Scale Gold Miners in the Amansie West District, Ghana.Journal of health & pollution · 2019Article
- Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities.Frontiers in genetics · 2019Review
- The Clinical Importance of the Mercury Problem in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining.Frontiers in public health · 2019Review
- Variation in thyroid hormone levels is associated with elevated blood mercury levels among artisanal small-scale miners in Ghana.PloS one · 2018Article
- Reduced egfr, elevated urine protein and low level of personal protective equipment compliance among artisanal small scale gold miners at Bibiani-Ghana: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSmall-scale gold miners in Ghana have been using mercury to amalgamate gold for many years. Mercury is toxic even at low concentration. We assessed occupational exposure of small-scale gold miners to mercury in Prestea, a gold mining town in Ghana
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in which we collected morning urine samples from 343 small-scale gold miners and tested for elemental mercury. Data on small-scale gold miner's socio-demographics, adverse health effects and occupational factors for mercury exposure were obtained and analyzed using SPSS Version 16 to determine frequency and percentage. Bivariate analysis was used to determine occupational factors associated with mercury exposure at 95% confidence level.
resultsThe mean age of the small-scale gold miners was 29.5 ±9.6 years, and 323(94.20%) were males. One hundred and sixty (46.65%) of the small-scale gold miners had urine mercury above the recommended exposure limit (<5.0ug/L). Complaints of numbness were significantly associated with mercury exposure among those who have previously worked at other small-scale gold mines (χ
conclusionA large proportion of small-scale gold miners in Prestea were having mercury exposure in excess of occupational exposure limits, and are at risk of experiencing adverse health related complications. Ghana Environmental Protection Agency should organize training for the miners.
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