Obiri Samuel, Yeboah Philip O, Osae Shiloh, Adu-Kumi Sam, Cobbina Samuel J, Armah Frederick A, Ason Benjamin, Antwi Edward, Quansah Reginald
Department of Nuclear and Environmental Protection, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box AE 1, Atomic, Accra, Ghana.
Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis, P.O. Box AD 738, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Jan 18;13(1):139. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13010139.
A human health risk assessment of artisanal miners exposed to toxic metals in water bodies and sediments in the PresteaHuni Valley District of Ghana was carried out in this study, in line with US EPA risk assessment guidelines. A total of 70 water and 30 sediment samples were collected from surface water bodies in areas impacted by the operations of artisanal small-scale gold mines in the study area and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, TDS, conductivity, turbidity as well as metals and metalloids such as As, Cd, Hg and Pb at CSIR-Water Research Institute using standard methods for the examination of wastewater as outlined by American Water Works Association (AWWA). The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Hg and Pb in water samples ranged from 15 μg/L to 325 μg/L (As), 0.17 μg/L to 340 μg/L (Cd), 0.17 μg/L to 122 μg/L (Pb) and 132 μg/L to 866 μg/L (Hg), respectively. These measured concentrations of arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were used as input parameters to calculate the cancer and non-cancer health risks from exposure to these metals in surface water bodies and sediments based on an occupational exposure scenario using central tendency exposure (CTE) and reasonable maximum exposure (RME) parameters. The results of the non-cancer human health risk assessment for small-scale miners working around river Anikoko expressed in terms of hazard quotients based on CTE parameters are as follows: 0.04 (Cd), 1.45 (Pb), 4.60 (Hg) and 1.98 (As); while cancer health risk faced by ASGM miners in Dumase exposed to As in River Mansi via oral ingestion of water is 3.1 × 10(-3). The hazard quotient results obtained from this study in most cases were above the HQ guidance value of 1.0, furthermore the cancer health risk results were found to be higher than the USEPA guidance value of 1 × 10(-4) to 1 × 10(-6). These findings call for case-control epidemiological studies to establish the relationship between exposure to the aforementioned toxic chemicals and diseases associated with them as identified in other studies conducted in different countries as basis for developing policy interventions to address the issue of ASGM mine workers safety in Ghana.
本研究根据美国环境保护局（US EPA）的风险评估指南，对加纳普雷斯蒂亚胡尼谷地区手工采矿者接触水体和沉积物中有毒金属的情况进行了人体健康风险评估。从研究区域内受手工小型金矿作业影响的地表水体中总共采集了70份水样和30份沉积物样本，并在加纳科学与工业研究理事会水研究所（CSIR-Water Research Institute），使用美国自来水厂协会（AWWA）概述的废水检测标准方法，分析了pH值、总溶解固体（TDS）、电导率、浊度等物理化学参数，以及砷（As）、镉（Cd）、汞（Hg）和铅（Pb）等金属和类金属。水样中砷、镉、汞和铅的平均浓度分别为15 μg/L至325 μg/L（砷）、0.17 μg/L至340 μg/L（镉）、0.17 μg/L至122 μg/L（铅）和132 μg/L至866 μg/L（汞）。这些测得的砷（As）、汞（Hg）、镉（Cd）和铅（Pb）浓度被用作输入参数，以基于职业暴露情景，使用中心趋势暴露（CTE）和合理最大暴露（RME）参数，计算接触地表水体和沉积物中这些金属所导致的癌症和非癌症健康风险。以CTE参数为基础，用危害商表示的、对在阿尼科科河附近工作的小型矿工进行的非癌症人体健康风险评估结果如下：0.04（镉）、1.45（铅）、4.60（汞）和1.98（砷）；而杜马塞地区手工小型金矿矿工通过口服曼西河中的水接触砷所面临的癌症健康风险为3.1×10⁻³。本研究获得的危害商结果在大多数情况下高于1.0的危害商指导值，此外，发现癌症健康风险结果高于美国环境保护局1×10⁻⁴至1×10⁻⁶的指导值。这些发现呼吁开展病例对照流行病学研究，以确定接触上述有毒化学品与其他国家进行的不同研究中所确定的与之相关疾病之间的关系，以此作为制定政策干预措施的依据，以解决加纳手工小型金矿工人的安全问题。
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