Impact of Artisanal Gold Mining on Human Health and the Environment in the Batouri Gold District, East Cameroon

Obase Ralph, Ngoran Gilles, Nde Fon, Henry Luma and Ngwane Greg

Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2018, vol. 7

Abstract: There is no Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) system for the mining sector in Cameroon, and miners are exposed to numerous health and safety risks inherent from Artisanal Gold Mining (AGM) activity. Also very few studies have addressed the health problems in AGM in Cameroon. This study seeks to create an awareness of the health and environmental issues surrounding the mining sector in Cameroon so as to foster its development. It was a cross-sectional, observational, and community-based study involving 273 respondents from three different communities. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. OHS risk assessment was conducted through direct observation and inspection of five different workplaces. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of mercury and lead. Gold miners in Batouri are exposed to the risk of physical injuries, respiratory conditions, diarrheal conditions, psychotic disorders, dermatophyte infections, helminthic infestations, malaria and musculoskeletal problems. The most common health problems among miners are musculoskeletal disorders (35.6%), malaria (26.4%) and hernias (14.9%), while malaria (18.7%) and musculoskeletal disorders (15.4%) are common among stakeholders. The mean blood mercury and lead levels among miners is 2.27 ± 8.85 µg/L and 12.73 ± 32.73 µg/L respectively, and 9.1% of them are chronically intoxicated with mercury, reporting ? 4 symptoms possibly related to mercury intoxication. The major environmental problems are deforestation, land degradation, water pollution, air pollution and water-logged pits. AGM in Batouri, therefore, has a negative impact on human health and environmental sustainability.

Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis/article/view/10190 (text/html)
https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis/article/view/10190/9822 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bjz:ajisjr:1704

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies from Richtmann Publishing Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Richtmann Publishing Ltd ().