Evaluation of Occupational Therapy Practices for Artisanal Gold Mining in Bagega Community, Zamfara State, Nigeria

Background: The enormous numbers of people involved in artisanal gold mining (AGM) together with primitive methods being used in processing gold have resulted in health and environmental challenges. Based on this, both the local and international stakeholders in mining and health sectors engaged in therapeutic practice to mitigate the challenges. Methods: Physical observation and soil samples were assessed in order to identify the occupational health hazards associated with AGM while questionnaire was used to evaluate the effectiveness of adopted occupational therapy practices across the study area. Soil sample was randomly collected between the depths of 0-20 cm. Soil digestion was carried out in triplicate and lead concentration was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Results: The result of a cumulative carcinogenic risk lifetime for ingestion, dermal contact and inhalation exposure pathways were given as 1.86E-01±0.00, 8.83E-04±0.00 and 5.45E-06±0.00 respectively. The major occupational health hazards associated with AGM were body weakness, brain damage, gastrointestinal tract, neuropsychiatric, injuries and death of miners while the removed occupational therapy practices adopted were awareness campaign, remediation/chelating treatment, sensitization and use of modern equipment training. Conclusion: The study established that most of the adopted occupational therapy practices were efficient and effective to ensure safe practices of AGM across the study area.