Mercury Exposure and Its Health Effects in Workers in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Sector—A Systematic Review

Kira Taux, Thomas Kraus and Andrea Kaifie
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Kira Taux: Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Thomas Kraus: Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Andrea Kaifie: Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-34

Abstract: Gold is one of the most valuable materials but is frequently extracted under circumstances that are hazardous to artisanal and small-scale gold miners’ health. A common gold extraction method uses liquid mercury, leading to a high exposure in workers. Therefore, a systematic review according to the PRISMA criteria was conducted in order to examine the health effects of occupational mercury exposure. Researching the databases PubMed ® , EMBASE ® and Web of Science TM yielded in a total of 10,589 results, which were screened by two independent reviewers. We included 19 studies in this review. According to the quantitative assessment, occupational mercury exposure may cause a great variety of signs and symptoms, in particular in the field of neuro-psychological disorders, such as ataxia, tremor or memory problems. However, many reported symptoms were largely unspecific, such as hair loss or pain. Most of the included studies had a low methodological quality with an overall high risk of bias rating. The results demonstrate that occupational mercury exposure seriously affects miners’ health and well-being.

Keywords: work; health; disease; intoxication; heavy metal; neuro-psychological disorders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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