Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2009 Nov;26(11):1482-7. doi: 10.1080/02652030903114928.
Environmental contamination with mercury from artisanal gold mines in Tanzania has been widely reported. People living around mining villages keep domestic animals which are allowed to feed freely in mercury-contaminated areas. This study investigated Hg accumulation in the liver and muscle tissue of cattle and domestic fowl reared in mining villages. Total mercury levels up to 436 and 820 microg/kg wet weight were found in liver samples taken from cattle and domestic fowl, respectively. Significantly higher mercury concentrations were found in liver samples collected at mining villages (p<0.05) than those taken from the reference area. While mercury concentrations in liver samples exceeded the acceptable maximum concentrations for humans set in the Netherlands and Poland, the Hg concentrations in muscle were below the limits of most countries. It is recommended that the keeping of freely grazing cattle and domestic fowl in or around artisanal gold mines should be avoided.
坦桑尼亚手工金矿造成的汞环境污染已广为人知。生活在矿区周围的人们饲养家畜，这些家畜可以在受汞污染的地区自由觅食。本研究调查了在矿区饲养的牛和家禽的肝脏和肌肉组织中的汞积累情况。从牛和家禽肝脏中采集的样本中发现总汞含量高达 436 和 820 微克/千克湿重。矿区采集的肝脏样本中的汞浓度明显高于参考区采集的样本（p<0.05）。虽然肝脏样本中的汞浓度超过了荷兰和波兰为人类设定的可接受的最大浓度，但肌肉中的汞浓度低于大多数国家的限量。建议避免在手工金矿或其周围饲养自由放牧的牛和家禽。
