Afrifa Justice, Opoku Yeboah Kwaku, Gyamerah Eric Ofori, Ashiagbor George, Sorkpor Rosemary Doe
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Scientific Research Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Front Public Health. 2019 May 29;7:131. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00131. eCollection 2019.
Artisanal small-scale mining is widely operated in various countries serving as a livelihood to many rural communities. However, it is a significant source of environmental mercury contamination which affects human health. Amalgamation and amalgam smelting, two significant steps in the artisanal small-scale mining operations generate lots of mercury vapors, leading to chronic exposure among miners. Thus, this article seeks to provide a topical review of recent findings on organ damage and metabolic disorders among mercury-exposed artisanal small-scale miners with emphasis on the contributing factors such as personal protective equipment usage and artisanal small-scale gold mining-specific occupational activities. Also, insights into the effect of mercury intoxication and mechanisms of action on organ and metabolic systems among exposed individuals are provided.
个体小规模采矿在各国广泛开展，为许多农村社区提供了生计。然而，它是环境汞污染的一个重要来源，会影响人类健康。混汞法和汞齐冶炼是个体小规模采矿作业中的两个重要步骤，会产生大量汞蒸气，导致矿工长期接触汞。因此，本文旨在对近期关于个体小规模采矿汞暴露矿工器官损伤和代谢紊乱的研究结果进行专题综述，重点关注个人防护装备使用情况以及个体小规模金矿开采特定职业活动等影响因素。此外，还提供了关于汞中毒影响以及汞对暴露个体器官和代谢系统作用机制的见解。
