OBJECTIVES To determine the genotoxic damage among artisanal and small-scale mining workers exposed to mercury. MATERIALS AND METHODS Observational cross-sectional study which evaluated mercury-exposed workers (n=83), whose cells were collected by mouth swab for further staining, microscopic observance, micronuclei count, and other nuclear alterations. 24-hour urine was also collected for the...

OBJECTIVE While artisanal mining takes place in casual framework and with total ignorance of good practices, few studies have focused on the origin of hazards specific to each workplace constitutive of this exploitation facility. Nevertheless, this study is a condition of an efficient occupational health and safety control in this sector. MATERIALS AND METHOD We took the effort to identify di...

• Importance of investment and mechanization in ASM operations. Relevance distinction between 'artisanal' 'small-scale' mining. Processing equipment technology allow for economies scale. Innovation brings deeper deposits within the reach operators. In South Kivu Province eastern Democratic Republic Congo, use new technologies artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has proliferated over course...

In artisanal gold mining practiced in North Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, gold is separated from ore by the use of mercury, which forms an amalgam with gold. All related processes are undertaken with a low level of technical knowledge and skills, no regulation, and with disregard for the safety of human and environment health. The situation is generating serious potential health and environmental...

Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for a single commodity and the ecosystem destructi...