Health and environmental risk assessment of mercury in outdoor and indoor dust in artisanal and small-scale gold mining area in Amansie-west district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Mercury (Hg) pollution around artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas has been of much concern. Many studies have reported elevated Hg concentrations in environmental media, but studies on dust relating to inhalation exposure of Hg around ASGM area are limited. In this study, we investiga...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental geochemistry and health 2024-09, Vol.46 (9), p.303, Article 303
Main Authors: Poku, Patrick Adu, Addai-Arhin, Sylvester, Nimako, Collins, Arrazy, Syafran, Agustiani, Tia, Jeong, Huiho, Agusa, Tetsuro, Ishibashi, Yasuhiro, Kobayashi, Jun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Pollutants - analysis
Air Pollution, Indoor - analysis
Atmospheric particulates
Carcinogens
Dust
Dust - analysis
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Environmental assessment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Exposure
Environmental Health
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental risk
Geochemistry
Ghana
Gold
Gold mines & mining
Health risk assessment
Health risks
Humans
Indoor air pollution
Indoor environments
Inhalation
Mercury
Mercury - analysis
Mining
Original Paper
Public Health
Respiration
Risk Assessment
Soil Science & Conservation
Statistical analysis
Terrestrial Pollution
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Summary:Mercury (Hg) pollution around artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas has been of much concern. Many studies have reported elevated Hg concentrations in environmental media, but studies on dust relating to inhalation exposure of Hg around ASGM area are limited. In this study, we investigated Hg in indoor and outdoor dust to reveal environmental and human health risk around ASGM in Amansie West district, Ghana. Indoor and outdoor dust samples were collected from Manso Abore and Manso Nkwanta in Ashanti Region. Concentration of Hg in the samples were analyzed using a direct Hg analyzer. The mean and median value of Hg concentration in the indoor dust ( n  = 31) were 2.2 ± 3.6 mg/kg and 0.72 mg/kg respectively while that of the outdoor dust ( n  = 60) were 0.19 ± 0.48 mg/kg and 0.042 mg/kg, respectively. The mean and median Hg concentration in indoor dust were about 11 and 17 times higher respectively than that in the outdoor dust. The Hg concentration in the indoor dust was statistically significantly higher than that of the non-miner in Manso Abore ( p  
ISSN:0269-4042
1573-2983
1573-2983
DOI:10.1007/s10653-024-02077-1