Occupational health, mercury exposure, and environmental justice: learning from experiences in Tanzania.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is used by poverty-driven miners to extract gold in more than 50 countries. This article examines efforts of the United Nations to address occupational health and environmental justice amid these challenges, focusing on a 3-year campaign in one of the fastest-growing mining communities in Tanzania. By providing an integrative analysis of environmental health risks, labor practices, public health policies, and drivers of social inequity and marginalization, this study highlights the need for interdisciplinary public health approaches that support community development by strengthening local capacities. It illustrates why, to ensure that the needs of vulnerable populations are met, environmental justice and public health paradigms have to expand beyond the conventionally narrow attention paid to toxic exposure and emissions issues.
Spiegel
Samuel J
SJ
Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge CB2 3EN, United Kingdom. samspiegel@gmail.com
D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008906:Mining; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016272:Occupational Health; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D013636:Tanzania; D014480:United Nations