Bedeutung von Humanbiomonitoring im internationalen Kontext: Blei- und Quecksilberbelastungen in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika an Beispielen aus dem Gold- und Bleibergbau

Objectives::

Artisanal small-scale gold mining is performed in over 70 countries all over the globe. Mercury is used to extract the gold from the ore. The smelting of so-called amalgams is the main source of high human exposures to mercury vapours. Several projects have been performed to medically examine miners and community members, including children. Kabwe was an important lead mining town in Zambia for > 90 years, leaving waste lead contaminated tailings behind. Lead is a well-known serious health hazard, causing anemia, seizures, encephalopathy and death. Soil in Kabwe's housing areas is highly contaminated with lead, especially children from neighbouring townships ingest toxic lead dust. A case report from MSF will be presented, where lead was the main contaminant in a gold mining area in Nigeria.

Methods::

Human specimens were taken, such as urine, blood, hair and breast milk. These specimens were analysed for lead/mercury. Data was obtained from different projects.

Results::

The results from these projects will be shown, indicating a very high lead/mercury exposure especially for the miners/children. Moreover a focus of the presentation will be on the opportunities and restrictions for human biomonitoring sampling in remote hot spot areas. E.g. a mobile mercury analyser was used to measure inorganic mercury in urine. This is a useful instrument to get immediate results and to communicate these results with the affected population. Mobile equipment was used to assess the lead levels of intoxicated children, and to monitor the detoxification with chelating agents.

Conclusion::

Human biomonitoring in hot spot areas is possible. Results showed very high exposure of the population to mercury/lead. These results are mainly useful for risk estimation. Human biomonitoring is a good tool to assess the quality of interventions.

Funding World-Bank (P154683) and European-Union DG research (HEALS #603946)