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Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa

BACKGROUND: Gold mining activities in South Africa resulted in contamination of residential environment with uranium-rich wastes from mine tailings. Health of the people living around the mine tailings could be affected by uranium exposure due to its hazardous chemotoxic and radiological properties....

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Autores principales: Zupunski, Ljubica, Street, Renée, Ostroumova, Evgenia, Winde, Frank, Sachs, Susanne, Geipel, Gerhard, Nkosi, Vusumuzi, Bouaoun, Liacine, Haman, Tanya, Schüz, Joachim, Mathee, Angela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Gustav Fisher 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030373/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36857995
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127141
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author Zupunski, Ljubica
Street, Renée
Ostroumova, Evgenia
Winde, Frank
Sachs, Susanne
Geipel, Gerhard
Nkosi, Vusumuzi
Bouaoun, Liacine
Haman, Tanya
Schüz, Joachim
Mathee, Angela
author_facet Zupunski, Ljubica
Street, Renée
Ostroumova, Evgenia
Winde, Frank
Sachs, Susanne
Geipel, Gerhard
Nkosi, Vusumuzi
Bouaoun, Liacine
Haman, Tanya
Schüz, Joachim
Mathee, Angela
author_sort Zupunski, Ljubica
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Gold mining activities in South Africa resulted in contamination of residential environment with uranium-rich wastes from mine tailings. Health of the people living around the mine tailings could be affected by uranium exposure due to its hazardous chemotoxic and radiological properties. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess i) uranium (U) concentrations in individual hair samples of children and adults living in close proximity to mine tailings in Northeast- Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, and ii) the association between U concentrations in hair and various factors, including zone of residence, socio-demographic and housing characteristics. Sampling sites were divided into three zones based on the distance between a dwelling and a cluster of mine tailings (zone 1: <= 500 m, zone 2: 2–3 km away, zone 3: 4–5 km away). U concentrations in hair samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. To test the association between U concentrations and selected factors we used robust regression models with log-transformed U concentrations. RESULTS: Among 128 subjects with available U measurements, 63 (49%) were children (ages 7–15 years) of which 38 were girls, the remaining 65 (51%) were adult females. Mean (median) U concentration in hair samples was 143 (92) µg/kg. In the mutually adjusted analyses, only an inverse association between age and U concentration in hair remained statistically significant, with geometric mean in children being 2.1 times higher compared to adults (P < 0.001). There was no evidence of an association between zones and U concentration (P = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS: There was little evidence of association between U concentration in hair and distance from the mine tailings within the 5 km range, but overall concentrations were elevated compared to general population samples in other parts of the world. Children had statistically significantly higher geometric mean of uranium concentration in hair compared to adults. The results are important for improvement of mining waste policies and implementation of health monitoring and protective measures in populations at risk. ARTICLE CATEGORY: Research Article
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spelling pubmed-100303732023-05-01 Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa Zupunski, Ljubica Street, Renée Ostroumova, Evgenia Winde, Frank Sachs, Susanne Geipel, Gerhard Nkosi, Vusumuzi Bouaoun, Liacine Haman, Tanya Schüz, Joachim Mathee, Angela J Trace Elem Med Biol Article BACKGROUND: Gold mining activities in South Africa resulted in contamination of residential environment with uranium-rich wastes from mine tailings. Health of the people living around the mine tailings could be affected by uranium exposure due to its hazardous chemotoxic and radiological properties. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess i) uranium (U) concentrations in individual hair samples of children and adults living in close proximity to mine tailings in Northeast- Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, and ii) the association between U concentrations in hair and various factors, including zone of residence, socio-demographic and housing characteristics. Sampling sites were divided into three zones based on the distance between a dwelling and a cluster of mine tailings (zone 1: <= 500 m, zone 2: 2–3 km away, zone 3: 4–5 km away). U concentrations in hair samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. To test the association between U concentrations and selected factors we used robust regression models with log-transformed U concentrations. RESULTS: Among 128 subjects with available U measurements, 63 (49%) were children (ages 7–15 years) of which 38 were girls, the remaining 65 (51%) were adult females. Mean (median) U concentration in hair samples was 143 (92) µg/kg. In the mutually adjusted analyses, only an inverse association between age and U concentration in hair remained statistically significant, with geometric mean in children being 2.1 times higher compared to adults (P < 0.001). There was no evidence of an association between zones and U concentration (P = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS: There was little evidence of association between U concentration in hair and distance from the mine tailings within the 5 km range, but overall concentrations were elevated compared to general population samples in other parts of the world. Children had statistically significantly higher geometric mean of uranium concentration in hair compared to adults. The results are important for improvement of mining waste policies and implementation of health monitoring and protective measures in populations at risk. ARTICLE CATEGORY: Research Article Gustav Fisher 2023-05 /pmc/articles/PMC10030373/ /pubmed/36857995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127141 Text en © 2023 Published by Elsevier GmbH. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Zupunski, Ljubica
Street, Renée
Ostroumova, Evgenia
Winde, Frank
Sachs, Susanne
Geipel, Gerhard
Nkosi, Vusumuzi
Bouaoun, Liacine
Haman, Tanya
Schüz, Joachim
Mathee, Angela
Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title_full Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title_fullStr Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title_short Environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in South Africa
title_sort environmental exposure to uranium in a population living in close proximity to gold mine tailings in south africa
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10030373/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36857995
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2023.127141
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