Nearly 400 children in or around the Zamfara State in Nigeria were killed by what exposure resulting from improper mining techniques?
Lead. According to the cited source, “Natural weathering of lead-rich gold ores before mining formed abundant, highly gastric-bioaccessible lead carbonates. The same fingerprint of lead minerals found in all sample types confirms that ore processing caused extreme contamination, with up to 185,000 ppm lead in soils/sweep samples and up to 145 ppm lead in plant foodstuffs. Incidental ingestion of soils via hand-to-mouth transmission and of dusts cleared from the respiratory tract is the dominant exposure pathway. Consumption of water and foodstuffs contaminated by the processing is likely lesser, but these are still significant exposure pathways. Although young children suffered the most immediate and severe consequences, results indicate that older children, adult workers, pregnant women, and breastfed infants are also at risk for lead poisoning. Mercury, arsenic, manganese, antimony, and crystalline silica exposures pose additional health threats.”
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1206051 “Linking Geological and Health Sciences to Assess Childhood Lead Poisoning from Artisanal Gold Mining in Nigeria. Authors: Geoffrey S. Plumlee, James T. Durant, Suzette A. Morman, Antonio Neri, Ruth E. Wolf, Carrie A. Dooyema, Philip L. Hageman, et al”
Contributed by Joe Kennedy, MD UVM Toxicology