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Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria

Background: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières discovered a lead poisoning outbreak linked to artisanal gold processing in northwestern Nigeria. The outbreak has killed approximately 400 young children and affected thousands more. Objectives: Our aim was to undertake an interdisciplinary geological-...

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Autores principales: Plumlee, Geoffrey S., Durant, James T., Morman, Suzette A., Neri, Antonio, Wolf, Ruth E., Dooyema, Carrie A., Hageman, Philip L., Lowers, Heather A., Fernette, Gregory L., Meeker, Gregory P., Benzel, William M., Driscoll, Rhonda L., Berry, Cyrus J., Crock, James G., Goldstein, Harland L., Adams, Monique, Bartrem, Casey L., Tirima, Simba, Behbod, Behrooz, von Lindern, Ian, Brown, Mary Jean
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672918/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23524139
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206051
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author Plumlee, Geoffrey S.
Durant, James T.
Morman, Suzette A.
Neri, Antonio
Wolf, Ruth E.
Dooyema, Carrie A.
Hageman, Philip L.
Lowers, Heather A.
Fernette, Gregory L.
Meeker, Gregory P.
Benzel, William M.
Driscoll, Rhonda L.
Berry, Cyrus J.
Crock, James G.
Goldstein, Harland L.
Adams, Monique
Bartrem, Casey L.
Tirima, Simba
Behbod, Behrooz
von Lindern, Ian
Brown, Mary Jean
author_facet Plumlee, Geoffrey S.
Durant, James T.
Morman, Suzette A.
Neri, Antonio
Wolf, Ruth E.
Dooyema, Carrie A.
Hageman, Philip L.
Lowers, Heather A.
Fernette, Gregory L.
Meeker, Gregory P.
Benzel, William M.
Driscoll, Rhonda L.
Berry, Cyrus J.
Crock, James G.
Goldstein, Harland L.
Adams, Monique
Bartrem, Casey L.
Tirima, Simba
Behbod, Behrooz
von Lindern, Ian
Brown, Mary Jean
author_sort Plumlee, Geoffrey S.
collection PubMed
description Background: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières discovered a lead poisoning outbreak linked to artisanal gold processing in northwestern Nigeria. The outbreak has killed approximately 400 young children and affected thousands more. Objectives: Our aim was to undertake an interdisciplinary geological- and health-science assessment to clarify lead sources and exposure pathways, identify additional toxicants of concern and populations at risk, and examine potential for similar lead poisoning globally. Methods: We applied diverse analytical methods to ore samples, soil and sweep samples from villages and family compounds, and plant foodstuff samples. Results: Natural weathering of lead-rich gold ores before mining formed abundant, highly gastric-bioaccessible lead carbonates. The same fingerprint of lead minerals found in all sample types confirms that ore processing caused extreme contamination, with up to 185,000 ppm lead in soils/sweep samples and up to 145 ppm lead in plant foodstuffs. Incidental ingestion of soils via hand-to-mouth transmission and of dusts cleared from the respiratory tract is the dominant exposure pathway. Consumption of water and foodstuffs contaminated by the processing is likely lesser, but these are still significant exposure pathways. Although young children suffered the most immediate and severe consequences, results indicate that older children, adult workers, pregnant women, and breastfed infants are also at risk for lead poisoning. Mercury, arsenic, manganese, antimony, and crystalline silica exposures pose additional health threats. Conclusions: Results inform ongoing efforts in Nigeria to assess lead contamination and poisoning, treat victims, mitigate exposures, and remediate contamination. Ore deposit geology, pre-mining weathering, and burgeoning artisanal mining may combine to cause similar lead poisoning disasters elsewhere globally.
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spelling pubmed-36729182013-06-13 Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria Plumlee, Geoffrey S. Durant, James T. Morman, Suzette A. Neri, Antonio Wolf, Ruth E. Dooyema, Carrie A. Hageman, Philip L. Lowers, Heather A. Fernette, Gregory L. Meeker, Gregory P. Benzel, William M. Driscoll, Rhonda L. Berry, Cyrus J. Crock, James G. Goldstein, Harland L. Adams, Monique Bartrem, Casey L. Tirima, Simba Behbod, Behrooz von Lindern, Ian Brown, Mary Jean Environ Health Perspect Research Background: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières discovered a lead poisoning outbreak linked to artisanal gold processing in northwestern Nigeria. The outbreak has killed approximately 400 young children and affected thousands more. Objectives: Our aim was to undertake an interdisciplinary geological- and health-science assessment to clarify lead sources and exposure pathways, identify additional toxicants of concern and populations at risk, and examine potential for similar lead poisoning globally. Methods: We applied diverse analytical methods to ore samples, soil and sweep samples from villages and family compounds, and plant foodstuff samples. Results: Natural weathering of lead-rich gold ores before mining formed abundant, highly gastric-bioaccessible lead carbonates. The same fingerprint of lead minerals found in all sample types confirms that ore processing caused extreme contamination, with up to 185,000 ppm lead in soils/sweep samples and up to 145 ppm lead in plant foodstuffs. Incidental ingestion of soils via hand-to-mouth transmission and of dusts cleared from the respiratory tract is the dominant exposure pathway. Consumption of water and foodstuffs contaminated by the processing is likely lesser, but these are still significant exposure pathways. Although young children suffered the most immediate and severe consequences, results indicate that older children, adult workers, pregnant women, and breastfed infants are also at risk for lead poisoning. Mercury, arsenic, manganese, antimony, and crystalline silica exposures pose additional health threats. Conclusions: Results inform ongoing efforts in Nigeria to assess lead contamination and poisoning, treat victims, mitigate exposures, and remediate contamination. Ore deposit geology, pre-mining weathering, and burgeoning artisanal mining may combine to cause similar lead poisoning disasters elsewhere globally. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2013-03-22 2013-06 /pmc/articles/PMC3672918/ /pubmed/23524139 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206051 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Research
Plumlee, Geoffrey S.
Durant, James T.
Morman, Suzette A.
Neri, Antonio
Wolf, Ruth E.
Dooyema, Carrie A.
Hageman, Philip L.
Lowers, Heather A.
Fernette, Gregory L.
Meeker, Gregory P.
Benzel, William M.
Driscoll, Rhonda L.
Berry, Cyrus J.
Crock, James G.
Goldstein, Harland L.
Adams, Monique
Bartrem, Casey L.
Tirima, Simba
Behbod, Behrooz
von Lindern, Ian
Brown, Mary Jean
Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title_full Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title_fullStr Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title_short Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria
title_sort linking geological and health sciences to assess childhood lead poisoning from artisanal gold mining in nigeria
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672918/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23524139
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206051
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