ArticleJournal of health & pollution2019
Assessment of Total Mercury in Hair, Urine and Fingernails of Small-Scale Gold Miners in the Amansie West District, Ghana.
Article in Journal of health & pollution, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Application of machine learning techniques to predict groundwater quality in the Nabogo Basin, Northern Ghana.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Mercury (Hg) use and pollution assessment of ASGM in Ghana: challenges and strategies towards Hg reduction.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Review
- Impact of Small-Scale Mining Activities on Physicochemical Properties of Soils in Dunkwa East Municipality of Ghana.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2021Article
- Mercury Exposure in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities in Sukabumi, Indonesia.Journal of health & pollution · 2020Article
- Distribution characteristics and influencing factors of heavy metals in scalp hair of Huainan urban residents.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMercury (Hg) is a heavy metal that can cause several adverse health effects based on its form (organic, inorganic or elemental), duration and pathway of exposure. Measurement of mercury present in human biological media is often used to assess human exposure to mercury at mining sites.
objectivesThe aim of the present study was to measure the concentrations of total mercury in urine, hair, and fingernails of miners and inhabitants of Amansie West District, Ghana.
methodsConcentrations of total mercury were measured in sixty-eight miners and twelve non-miners in the study area using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry with an automatic mercury analyzer (HG 5000).
resultsTotal mercury in nails and hair of smelter miners was 3.32 ± 0.36 and 6.59 ± 0.01 μg/g, respectively. Total mercury concentrations in hair samples obtained from smelter miners were above the 1 μg/g guideline set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Moreover, the total mercury concentration in urine samples was 6.97 ± 0.06 μg/L, far below the >25 μg/L level considered to be a high level of mercury contamination. The total mercury accrued by the individuals was not dependent on age, but was positively associated with duration of stay.
conclusionsBased on the total mercury (THg) levels analyzed in the biological media, artisanal gold mining activities in Amansie West District are on the increase with a potential risk of developing chronic effects. However, the majority of the population, particularly those engaged in artisanal small-scale gold mining, are unmindful of the hazards posed by the use of mercury in mining operations. The results showed that THg in urine, hair, and fingernails more efficiently distinguished mercury exposure in people close to mining and Hg pollution sources than in people living far from the mining sites. Further education on cleaner artisanal gold mining processes could help to minimize the impact of mercury use and exposure on human health and the environment. PARTICIPANT CONSENT: Obtained. ETHICS APPROVAL: This study was approved by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Manso Nkwanta. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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.