Spatial Analysis of Soil Lead Exposures from Lead Poisoning Tragedy in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Villages of Zamfara, Nigeria
Additional Funding Sources
This project is supported by a 2019-2020 STEM Undergraduate Research Grant from the Higher Education Research Council. The analysis was supported by TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO). Data were generated during emergency response activities and collected by Zamfara State Environmental Sanitation Agency (ZESA), Anka Local Government Area (LGA), and Anka Emirate, with the support of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) and TIFO.
Abstract
In 2010, multiple Nigerian villages experienced unprecedented mass lead poisoning resulting in the death of over 400 children in three months (Thurtle et al 2014). Artisanal gold ore processing in rural households caused severe lead exposures via dust inhalation and incidental soil/dust ingestion. TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering (TIFO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Nigerian health and environmental agencies implemented emergency remediation and medical treatment for exposed children. Handheld X-ray fluorescent spectrometer (XRF) was used to assess concentrations of soil heavy metals before and after remediation, resulting in a database of > 10,000 soil lead concentrations.
This study demonstrates the influence of neighborhood size and compound location on child lead exposure. To account for the wide variation of contamination between homes, neighborhoods, and communities, a combination of soil lead concentrations from each is important in predicting exposure. The Nigeria lead poisoning tragedy provides an opportunity to understand heavy metal exposures in low-income, subsistence communities, where environmental health crises are seen with increasing frequency (Pruss-Uston 2016). Eighty-two percent (82%) of lead poisoning deaths occur in low and middle-income countries and children under the age of five are at highest risk (Landrigan 2017). Analysis of XRF data from the Zamfara crisis can be applied to other artisanal mining communities.
Spatial Analysis of Soil Lead Exposures from Lead Poisoning Tragedy in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Villages of Zamfara, Nigeria
In 2010, multiple Nigerian villages experienced unprecedented mass lead poisoning resulting in the death of over 400 children in three months (Thurtle et al 2014). Artisanal gold ore processing in rural households caused severe lead exposures via dust inhalation and incidental soil/dust ingestion. TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering (TIFO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Nigerian health and environmental agencies implemented emergency remediation and medical treatment for exposed children. Handheld X-ray fluorescent spectrometer (XRF) was used to assess concentrations of soil heavy metals before and after remediation, resulting in a database of > 10,000 soil lead concentrations.
This study demonstrates the influence of neighborhood size and compound location on child lead exposure. To account for the wide variation of contamination between homes, neighborhoods, and communities, a combination of soil lead concentrations from each is important in predicting exposure. The Nigeria lead poisoning tragedy provides an opportunity to understand heavy metal exposures in low-income, subsistence communities, where environmental health crises are seen with increasing frequency (Pruss-Uston 2016). Eighty-two percent (82%) of lead poisoning deaths occur in low and middle-income countries and children under the age of five are at highest risk (Landrigan 2017). Analysis of XRF data from the Zamfara crisis can be applied to other artisanal mining communities.