scholarly journals Transdisciplinary Online Health Assessment of an Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11206
Author(s):  
Win Thiri Kyaw ◽  
Yee Mon Myint ◽  
Xiaoxu Kuang ◽  
Masayuki Sakakibara
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Mercury Intoxication ◽  
Service Application

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has a known negative effect on the community’s health; therefore, assessment to monitor community health is essential to detect any issues and enable early treatment. Because ASGM-related health issues are complex and cannot be addressed effectively with a traditional one-time health assessment alone, both long-term and regular health assessments using a transdisciplinary approach should be considered. In response to this need, we designed an online health assessment tool as a reference for a future long-term health assessment system. An online video interview was conducted with 54 respondents living in the ASGM area of Chaung Gyi Village, Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar, via a social networking service application. The tool was used to evaluate community health during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, including mercury intoxication symptoms, mining-related diseases, and other diseases. Results show that persons working in mining versus non-mining occupations had a greater prevalence of pulmonary diseases, such as pulmonary tuberculosis, silicosis, and bronchial asthma, in addition to malaria. Based on these findings, online health assessment using a transdisciplinary approach can be recommended as an effective tool for sustainable and long-term health assessment of ASGM-related disease and should be performed regularly following physical health surveys.

OPTIONS FOR ASSESSING THE SUITABILITY OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACUPUNCTURE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Vojvodíková ◽  
Jiří Kupka ◽  
Adéla Brázdová ◽  
Radim Fojtík ◽  
Iva Tichá
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
The City

To increase their resilience to climate change, cities are looking to apply elements of urban environmental acupuncture. The essence of such measures is many smaller sites that is functioning as mitigation measures. Many of these small places then create a large overall effect. The advantage of these small-scale measures is that they can be in densely populated areas The assessment tool described in this paper is designed for city representatives and is an aid to assess the suitability of applying a particular measure based on the parameters described. The evaluation itself then helps to decide whether the solution is suitable for a particular site or whether any of the parameters need to be adjusted to make it suitable, or whether it would be appropriate to change the proposed solution. The intention of the evaluation is not to assess the technical solution but relies primarily on the location, long-term (especially financial) sustainability and acceptance by the citizens of the city. The paper presents an example of the application of the evaluation to four sites in city Liptovský Mikuláš, describing the results and identifying parameters that can be improved to ensure the urban environmental acupuncture is accepted by citizens and thus future-proofed.

scholarly journals Trace and Heavy Metal Contamination Status of Soil and Water in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining Vicinity in Kuchiko-Hausa, Gurara LGA, Niger State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 207-219
Author(s):  
Sani Aliyu Haruna ◽  
Amanabo Musa ◽  
Gbodi Timothy Ayinla
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metals ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Heavy Metal Contamination ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Water Stream ◽  
Water And Soil Samples

Mining activities have long been recognized as a major source of environmental contamination associated with heavy metals. In this study, ten (10) trace metals namely As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed from water (stream, river and borehole) and soil (surface and sub-soil) samples collected from around the artisanal and small scale gold mining site within the vicinity in Kuchiko-Hausa, Gurara LGA, Niger State, Nigeria using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The result from the water and soil samples showed the while all the investigated trace metals were absent from all the water samples, Hg was only found with concentration of 0.006 and 0.0053 mg/mL for the stream and river water samples, the soil samples showed the presence of all the trace metals except Cd and Co with As and Cr found only in the surface soil. All detected trace metals in the samples were all lower than the WHO permissible limits. Periodic and systematic study of the investigated and other metals concentrations is therefore recommended since long-term exposure of these metals poses significant health risk for human, animals and plants.

Water Values in a Ghanaian Small-Scale Gold Mining Community

2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Long ◽  
Elisha Renne ◽  
Thomas Robins ◽  
Mark Wilson ◽  
Kenneth Pelig-Ba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mining Community ◽  
Scarce Water ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
Mining Water ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Control

Water scarcity, quality, and control are growing problems worldwide. In this paper, values associated with water—sociocultural, economic, and chemical—in a small-scale gold mining community in northeastern Ghana are considered. Mining activities have affected the quality of locally scarce water resources. In an area without government provision of water, this situation has also forced community members to develop innovative water strategies that reflect the ways that water is understood and valued with regard to personal health and the environment as well as to the seasonality of water acquisition. These community evaluations of water in the gold mining community are then compared with the chemical analysis of water samples collected near the gold mining site. The ways in which these evaluations of water quality—based on particular knowledge systems—coincide and differ suggest the need for community participation in environmental and health assessment as well as government oversight and water provision. An examination of the connections between gold mining, water, and health; work and gender; and cultural and chemical assessments of water quality situates this particular water world within larger global concerns about small-scale gold mining, the roles of mining communities and government, and water sustainability.

MERCURY USE IN ARTISANAL SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING IN ZIMBABWE: DISABILTY-ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS (DALYS) OF CHRONIC MERCURY INTOXICATION

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Steckling ◽  
Stephan Bose-O’Reilly ◽  
Paulo Pinheiro ◽  
Dietrich Plaß ◽  
Dennis Shoko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gold Mining ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Mercury Intoxication ◽  
Chronic Mercury Intoxication

Integrated Sociology Program Assessment: Inclusion of a Senior Portfolio Graduation Requirement

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason L. Crockett ◽  
Albert S. Fu ◽  
Joleen L. Greenwood ◽  
Mauricia A. John
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
Program Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Graduation Requirement ◽  
Liberal Arts Institution ◽  
Sociology Program

This article presents information about the planning, implementation, and findings of an assessment-based student portfolio designed by the faculty of a sociology program at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, a midsized public regional liberal arts institution. First, we briefly present the rationale for implementing a portfolio system and the thought process by which our particular portfolio assessment tool was created. Then, we explain our findings using the portfolio assessment system and how these findings were used to modify and strengthen the program as well as serve as a basis for long-term planning for the program.

scholarly journals The burden of chronic mercury intoxication in artisanal small-scale gold mining in Zimbabwe: data availability and preliminary estimates

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Steckling ◽  
Stephan Bose-O’Reilly ◽  
Paulo Pinheiro ◽  
Dietrich Plass ◽  
Dennis Shoko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gold Mining ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mercury Intoxication ◽  
Chronic Mercury Intoxication
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