Mercury from Gold and Silver Mining: A Chemical Time Bomb?

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Springer Science & Business Media, 6 dec. 2012 - 147 pagini
Due to its inherent characteristics, mercury contamination from gold mining is a major environmental problem compared to past mercury contamination from industrial point sources. The worsening of social-economical conditions and increasing gold prices in the late 1970s resulted in a new rush for gold by individual entrepreneurs for whom Hg amalgamation is a cheap and easily carried out operation. Even after the present-day mining areas are exhausted, the mercury left behind will remain part of the biochemical cycle of the tropical forest. This book reviews the current information on mercury from gold mining, its cycling in the environment and its long-term ecotoxicological impact. The book is illustrated with numerous diagrams and photographs.
 

Cuprins

The Use of Mercury Amalgamation in Gold and Silver Mining
1
12 PresentDay Worldwide Utilization of Mercury Amalgamation
4
13 PresentDay Amalgamation Mining Techniques
6
Estimating Losses of Mercury to the Environment
15
22 Mercury Emissions from Historical Gold and Silver Mining
18
23 The Second Gold Rush in the South
22
Mercury in the Atmosphere
29
Burning of Amalgam
30
443 Mercury Cycling in Artificial Tropical Reservoirs
66
45 Mercury Methylation
70
Mercury in Biota
79
52 Aquatic Macrophytes
80
53 Animals Excluding Fish
83
54 Fish
85
541 Mercury Concentrations and Distribution in Fish
86
542 MethylMercury in Fish from Gold Mining Areas
90

Degassing from Contaminated Soils Waters and Tailings
33
32 Mercury Concentrations in Air of Urban and Rural Areas
35
33 Chemical Forms Reactivity and Fate of Hg in the Atmosphere
36
34 Impacted Areas Through the Atmospheric Transport Pathway
39
342 Lakes
44
Mercury in Tropical Aquatic and Terrestrial Systems
47
42 Leaching from Tailings
48
422 Mercury Export from Tailings to Adjacent Aquatic Systems
51
43 Rivers
53
432 Mercury and Its Associations in River Sediments
56
433 Hydrological Effects on Hg Dispersion
58
434 Dispersion of Mercury in River Systems
60
44 Tropical Reservoirs
64
441 Atmospheric Inputs
65
543 Fish Response Changes in Hg Environmental Concentrations
91
55 The Atmospheric Link in the Mercury Content of Fish
93
Mercury Contamination of Humans in Gold and Silver Mining Areas
97
61 Exposure Characteristics to Human Groups
98
62 Mercury Concentrations in Humans from Occupational Exposure
99
63 Mercury Concentrations in Humans Due to Environmental Exposure
104
631 Mercury Concentrations in Human Blood
105
Perspectives on the Temporal Development of Mercury Inputs into the Environment
111
72 The Decrease in Mercury Inputs from Industrial Point Sources
112
The Second Gold Rush and Before
117
Summary and Outlook
121
References
125
Subject Index
143
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