Center for Environmental Studies (CES), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, USA.
Department of Environmental Science, Stamford University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Environ Monit Assess. 2017 Jun;189(6):279. doi: 10.1007/s10661-017-5978-3. Epub 2017 May 20.
Traditionally, handmade gold jewelry played a very important role in the cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Goldsmiths still are partially using ancient manufacturing process with coal fire, candle flame blowing, and nitric and sulfuric acid treatments. Such process leads to the contamination of workplace with the dust of toxic metals, acidic vapors, and particles of different natures. To evaluate contamination by particulate matter (PM), the passive particle collectors were installed in different manufacturing units for a period of 85 days at Tanti Bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The laser diffraction analysis of the samples collected at the soldering units showed significant amounts of particulates, both PM10 and PM 2.5, and also nanoparticles in both nucleation and accumulation mode. SEM/EDS analysis revealed partially melted micro blebs that contain a very high concentration of Fe along with Cu. The toxic elements were detected with ICP analysis and include higher concentrations of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As). It is notable that detection of arsenic contamination was unexpected since raw materials used for jewelry making should not have any arsenic.
传统上，手工金饰在孟加拉国的文化遗产中扮演着非常重要的角色。金匠仍然部分采用古老的制造工艺，使用煤炭火、蜡烛火焰吹制以及硝酸和硫酸处理。这种工艺会导致工作场所受到有毒金属粉尘、酸性蒸气和不同性质颗粒的污染。为了评估颗粒物（PM）的污染情况，在孟加拉国达卡的坦蒂市场的不同制造单位安装了被动颗粒物收集器，为期 85 天。对在焊接工位收集的样品进行激光衍射分析显示，存在大量颗粒物，包括 PM10 和 PM2.5，以及在成核和积聚模式下的纳米颗粒。SEM/EDS 分析显示，部分熔化的微泡含有非常高浓度的 Fe 以及 Cu。用 ICP 分析检测到有毒元素，包括更高浓度的镉（Cd）、铬（Cr）、铅（Pb）和砷（As）。值得注意的是，砷污染的检测是出乎意料的，因为用于制作珠宝的原材料不应含有任何砷。
