title: Rapid assessment of environmental health risks posed by mining operations in low- and middle-income countries: selected case studies.
abstract: Previous studies have evaluated associated health risks and human exposure pathways at mining sites. Others have provided estimates of the scale of the issue based in part on surveys. However, a global census of mining-related hazardous waste sites has been lacking. The Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP) implemented by Blacksmith Institute (New York, NY, USA) since 2009 is an ongoing effort to catalogue a wide range of chemically contaminated sites with a potential human health risk (Ericson et al., Environ Monit Assess doi:10.1007/s 10661-012-2665-2, 2012). The TSIP utilizes a rapid assessment instrument, the Initial Site Screening (ISS), to quickly and affordably identify key site criteria including human exposure pathways, estimated populations at risk, and sampling information. The resulting ISS allows for comparison between sites exhibiting different contaminants and pollution sources. This paper explores the results of a subset of ISSs completed at 131 artisanal and small-scale gold mining areas and 275 industrial mining and ore processing sites in 45 countries. The authors show that the ISS captures key data points, allowing for prioritization of sites for further investigation or remedial activity.
authors.affiliation: City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10035, USA, jcaravan@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caravanos
authors.forename: Bret
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ericson
authors.forename: Johny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ponce-Canchihuamán
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hanrahan
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Budi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Susilorini
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D019049:Developed Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004782:Environmental Health; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008906:Mining; D018570:Risk Assessment