Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Av. Universitaria 1801, Lima, 15088, Peru.
Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Av. La Fontana 501, Lima 12, Lima, Peru.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Aug;29(36):54045-54059. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-21152-7. Epub 2022 Jun 1.
Peru is one of the great gold producers worldwide. However, a significant portion of the gold produced in Peru derives from artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Andes and Amazon. In ASGM, gold amalgamation with mercury (Hg) is a critical procedure to refine gold through the formation of Au-Hg alloys. Due to the rudimentary and improvised techniques conducted by small-scale and informal miners, Hg contamination has become of great concern and is strictly associated with ASGM. Multiple studies have evidenced notably high concentrations of Hg in consumable fish species, rivers, sediments, and air in locations where ASGM is one of the main sources of income to local communities and is carried out aggressively. In the present review, we have conducted a systematic search for national and international literature reporting the concentration and distribution of Hg pollution across environmental compartments, biota, and human samples in Peru. The results and data retrieved from the articles were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed, and the distribution of Hg across environmental compartments was visualized through a geographic information system. Additionally, we reviewed the use of adsorption techniques as alternatives to treat Hg vapor from the gold shop and smelter flues, one of the main sources of hazardous levels of Hg exposure.
秘鲁是全球主要的黄金生产国之一。然而，秘鲁生产的大量黄金来自安第斯山脉和亚马逊地区的手工和小规模采金业（ASGM）。在 ASGM 中，金与汞（Hg）的汞齐化是通过形成 Au-Hg 合金来精炼金的关键工序。由于小规模和非正规矿工采用的原始和临时技术，Hg 污染已引起极大关注，并且与 ASGM 密切相关。多项研究表明，在 ASGM 是当地社区主要收入来源之一且采金活动活跃的地方，可食用鱼类物种、河流、沉积物和空气中的 Hg 浓度明显较高。在本次综述中，我们对报告秘鲁环境各部分、生物群和人体样本中 Hg 污染浓度和分布的国内外文献进行了系统检索。对从文章中检索到的结果和数据进行了定量和定性分析，并通过地理信息系统可视化了 Hg 在环境各部分的分布。此外，我们还回顾了吸附技术作为处理金店和冶炼厂烟道中 Hg 蒸气的替代方法的使用情况，这些烟道是 Hg 暴露水平达到危险程度的主要来源之一。
