ArticlePloS one2017
Ecological and human health risks associated with abandoned gold mine tailings contaminated soil.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 266 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematised Review of the Health Impact of Urban Informal Settlements and Implications for Upgrading Interventions in South Africa, a Rapidly Urbanising Middle-Income Country.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Review
- From environmental burden to resource potential: environmental impact evaluation and Critical Raw Materials recovery from abandoned gold mining waste in the Western Alps (NW Italy).Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Assessment of potentially toxic elements in mine tailings and their categorization and prioritization as environmental liabilities in gold mining areas of Antioquia, Colombia.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2026Article
- Long-term heavy metal contamination altered the structure and function of microbial communities in agricultural soil.Extremophiles : life under extreme conditions · 2026Article
- Impact of extraction methods on Monte Carlo based dietary health risk assessment of potentially harmful elements in edible plants.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Seasonal variation, heavy metal pollution indices and health risk assessment in the Esa-Odo reservoir, Nigeria.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Lead Induces Mitochondrial Dysregulation in SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells via a lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-mRNA Interdependent Networks.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Geochemical characterization and health risk assessment of groundwater in Wadi Ranyah, Saudi Arabia, using statistical and GIS-based models.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2025Article
- Integrated Biochar-Compost Amendment forPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Evaluation of potentially toxic elements and ecological risks associated with environmental liabilities in Tacna, Peru.PloS one · 2025Article
- Proposal for a framework for environmental zoning of areas near gold mines based on the distribution of potentially toxic elements, pollution indices, and bioindicators: a case study in Antioquia, Colombia.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2024Article
- Occupational, environmental, and toxicological health risks of mining metals for lithium-ion batteries: a narrative review of the Pubmed database.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2024Review
- Effect of thermal treatment of illite on the bioavailability of copper and zinc in the aerobic composting of pig manure with corn straw.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Prediction of heavy metal ion distribution and Pb and Zn ion concentrations in the tailing pond area.PloS one · 2024Article
- Probabilistic risk assessment of residential exposure to metal(loid)s in a mining impacted community.The Science of the total environment · 2023Article
- A Review on Remediation of Iron Ore Mine Tailings via Organic Amendments Coupled with Phytoremediation.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Relations between personal exposure to elevated concentrations of arsenic in water and soil and blood arsenic levels amongst people living in rural areas in Limpopo, South Africa.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2023Article
- Heavy metal exposure risk associated with ingestion of Oreochromis niloticus and Coptodon kottae harvested from a lacustrine ecosystem.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2023Article
- OnZooKeys · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Gold mining is a major source of metal and metalloid emissions into the environment. Studies were carried out in Krugersdorp, South Africa, to evaluate the ecological and human health risks associated with exposure to metals and metalloids in mine tailings contaminated soils. Concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) in soil samples from the area varied with the highest contamination factors (expressed as ratio of metal or metalloid concentration in the tailings contaminated soil to that of the control site) observed for As (3.5x102), Co (2.8x102) and Ni (1.1x102). Potential ecological risk index values for metals and metalloids determined from soil metal and metalloid concentrations and their respective risk factors were correspondingly highest for As (3.5x103) and Co (1.4x103), whereas Mn (0.6) presented the lowest ecological risk. Human health risk was assessed using Hazard Quotient (HQ), Chronic Hazard Index (CHI) and carcinogenic risk levels, where values of HQ > 1, CHI > 1 and carcinogenic risk values > 1×10-4 represent elevated risks. Values for HQ indicated high exposure-related risk for As (53.7), Cr (14.8), Ni (2.2), Zn (2.64) and Mn (1.67). Children were more at risk from heavy metal and metalloid exposure than adults. Cancer-related risks associated with metal and metalloid exposure among children were also higher than in adults with cancer risk values of 3×10-2 and 4×10-2 for As and Ni respectively among children, and 5×10-3 and 4×10-3 for As and Ni respectively among adults. There is significant potential ecological and human health risk associated with metal and metalloid exposure from contaminated soils around gold mine tailings dumps. This could be a potential contributing factor to a setback in the health of residents in informal settlements dominating this mining area as the immune systems of some of these residents are already compromised by high HIV prevalence.
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