Evaluación de la exposición a níquel y mercurio en población ocupacional y ambientalmente expuesta en el municipio de Montelíbano (Córdoba) en Colombia
Thesis
In Colombia, mining activities generate contamination with heavy metals such as Nickel and Mercury, generating effects on human health and the environment. The contamination that occurs in the soil and in the water constitutes an important determinant in food safety, since it threatens human health. In Montelíbano the economic activities of the municipality are represented by livestock, agriculture and mining, within the latter is the ferronickel mine and gold mining that is done in an artisanal way. Objective: To determine the exposure to Nickel and Mercury in the occupationally and environmentally exposed population in the municipality of Montelíbano (Córdoba) in Colombia. Materials and methods: cross-sectional descriptive study, in which 100 people from Montelíbano (Córdoba) participated, 50% of the sample was occupationally exposed and 50% environmentally exposed. Sociodemographic characteristics, work history, environment and eating habits were determined, and the analysis of Nickel and Mercury levels in biological samples (hair) of the study population and in environmental samples (water and fish) was performed. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated and relationships were sought between the variables included in the study. Results: The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants highlight that 95.2% of the occupational and 63.9% of the environmentally exposed are male, actively employed in mining jobs with an average age of 52 years and living in the municipal seat. Regarding eating habits, 96.8% of those exposed occupationally and 97.2% of those reported consuming fish of a medium size and with a frequency of 1 to 2 times a week. Regarding the use of personal protection elements, what the workers used the most was the respirator (68.3%), gloves (57.1%) and leather boots (81.0%). The median of nickel (Ni) in the occupationally exposed was 0.55 ppm and in the environmentally exposed 0.37 ppm, this difference not being statistically significant, while that of mercury (Hg) in the occupationally exposed individuals was of 2.22 ppm and 1.76 ppm for those environmentally exposed, a statistically significant difference (p=0.0449). In environmental samples, the median for Hg in fish was 0.14418 mg/kg and 0.00035 µg/mL in water, for Ni 0.4081 mg/kg in fish and 0.0045 µg/mL in water. . Conclusions: The population groups of this study are exposed to a mixture of heavy metals such as nickel and mercury due to both occupational exposure due to mining work and environmental exposure through different matrices such as soil, air, water and food
publication date
December 13, 2022 1:42 PM
Research
keywords
Exposure to Nickel and Mercury
Heavy metal contamination
Mining activity, Montelibano (Córdoba) in Colombia
