ArticleNature sustainability2018
Sustainability of artisanal mining of cobalt in DR Congo.
Article in Nature sustainability, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 487 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Association between bone trace metal accumulation and idiopathic aseptic osteonecrosis of the femoral head in a mining region of Katanga (DR Congo).Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
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- The history of occupational health on the African continent.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Structural Elucidation of NaChemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- Iron and Nickel Substituted Perovskite Cobaltites for Sustainable Oxygen Evolving Anodes in Alkaline Environment.ChemSusChem · 2025Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The sustainability of cobalt is an important emerging issue because this critical base metal is an essential component of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. More than half the world's cobalt mine production comes from the Katanga Copperbelt in DR Congo, with a substantial proportion (estimated at 15-20%) being extracted by artisanal miners. Here we show, in a case study performed in the town of Kolwezi, that people living in a neighbourhood that had been transformed into an artisanal cobalt mine, had much higher levels of cobalt in urine and blood than people living in a nearby control area. The differences were most pronounced for children, in whom we also found evidence of exposure-related oxidative DNA damage. It was already known that industrial mining and processing of metals have led to severe environmental pollution in the region. This field study provides novel and robust empirical evidence that the artisanal extraction of cobalt that prevails in the DR Congo may cause toxic harm to vulnerable communities. This strengthens the conclusion that the currently existing cobalt supply chain is not sustainable.
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.